Fuck Yeah Agnosticism
A blog about agnosticism in the context of philosophy of religion.
An agnostic is a person who argues that people do not and perhaps cannot have knowledge of whether or not a supreme being exists.
An agnostic can be atheist-leaning, theist-leaning or neither.
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A short essay about agnosticism and Russell’s Teapot by a blogger who self-describes as “strong atheist” and “theological noncognitivist.”
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Post reblogged from The Atheist That Hates
So I don’t plan on turning this into a daily thing by any means but I thought of another good question I’d like to ask my followers today. Perhaps this one is relevant to more people on my list then the last. It is directed to people that recognize themselves as being “agnostic”. To avoid any confusion on definitions I am referring to people that have taken the stance that they do not know or believe, one way or the other, on God’s existence. If you are an Agnostic, what would it take for you to become an Atheist? Obviously the question of if God exists or not does have a definite answer. So what would need to be different for you to become an Atheist? I am not looking to proselytize anyone but am very curious as to what may be holding back someone from making a decision. Anyways, feel free to leave answers in a reply of send me a message if you’d like. As always thanks for reading.
I’m reblogging this here, in case anyone here wants to respond with what would be necessary for them to self-describe as atheist. I’m uncertain if the question applies to people who self-describe as agnostic and as atheist, but I suppose for atheist agnostics and agnostic atheists it can be interpreted as “What would be necessary for you to drop the agnostic descriptor and self-describe only as atheist?”
My own (non-fence-sitting, rather logical-positivisty) response is at my personal tumblr if anyone is interested in that.
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Photo reblogged from Experiencing Is Understanding
Lmao. Freaking love Cyanide & Happiness.
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Do you believe that an agnostic can also be religious?
Asked by gematriya
If by “religious” you mean actively participating in a religious community, then yes.
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Link reblogged from Indifferent universe
Actually, there are theist agnostics. There are also agnostics, such as myself, who are neither atheist nor theist. A person can hold a belief without claiming knowledge of if the belief is true.
I know there are theist agnostics. But the “undecided” agnostics are all atheist. You just need to answer the question “Do you believe god exists?”. And the answer to that can only be “yes” or “no”. And if you’re supposedly undecided, the answer is “no”, as is to the answer to the question “Do you believe god doesn’t exist?”.
But as soon as you lack a belief in god, you’re an atheist.
I see that you are using a different definition of “atheist” than I do personally, and I’d like to say that I really appreciate the identity-term prescriptivism going on here. I don’t take a prescriptivist position on identity terms as you do because I’m much more postmodern than that, so I’ll do you a favor and share my experiences to show you why I describe myself as a non-theist non-atheist agnostic, or a “radically skeptical agnostic,” as one of my professors has described me.
In response to the question “Do you believe god exists?” I cannot give a clear answer for the reason that I don’t have a coherent understanding of what a “god” would be. In terms of the qualities of the Abrahamic god, I can say I don’t believe in that god-concept, but there are many other god-concepts that are also called gods, and it is unclear what makes all of them fall into the category of “god.” I don’t have an understanding of what a god is that is separate from individual god-concepts, so while I can say that I don’t hold belief in any of the god-concepts that have been presented to me, I can’t claim to any knowledge of what “god” means, or of what makes any being called a god fall into the category of “god.” “God” is not an intelligible concept to me at this point in time, so I don’t know whether I believe in any god or not.
I can’t say a simple “yes” or “no” in response to “Do you believe in god?” This is what makes me an agnostic that falls in neither the atheist agnostic category nor the theist agnostic category.
I self-describe as agnostic also because I feel more comfortable in agnostic communities than in atheist communities. I hold many beliefs that are incompatible with a reductive materialist view of the universe, and I find that people in agnostic communities are more accepting of my views, even if they individually disagree with them. So despite that I live my life as if atheism and reductive materialism are the case, such a lifestyle is only pragmatic, because I would like it if neither were the case.
Regarding theist agnostics, such as Immanuel Kant, they generally respond “Yes” to the question “Do you believe in god?” but what makes such theistic people agnostic is that they do not, or cannot, state arguments concluding that their belief is true, although they may privately hope or feel they have an intuitive sense that their belief is true.
I hope that the response I have provided above has not been in vain. Please feel welcome to use fuckyeahagnosticism’s ask box if you want to further engage me or this community on this topic.
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Quote reblogged from This is not an exit.Donnie, an atheist is someone who denies altogether the existence of God. You’re an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God, but does not deny the possibility that God exists.Dr. Lilian Thurman, Donnie Darko (via raincoatandaxe)
(Source: beautiessleeping)
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Post reblogged from Indifferent universe
The current popular definition of agnosticism is as someone who is neither a theist nor an atheist - as someone who is “undecided” when it comes to the question of god’s existence. I’ve come a lot of self-proclaimed agnostics, who like to claim some kind of philosophical high-ground, and see atheists as “just as dogmatic as theists”. Some agnostics never really contemplate what they actually mean when they say they’re agnostic and what the implications are.
The word agnostic (Greek: ἀ- a-, without + γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge), is about the issue of knowledge. In case of god it would be the answer to the question “Do you know if god exists?” But this actually means that most atheists are actually agnostics - since the broader definition of atheism is “the lack of belief in god”, and most atheists don’t claim that they know god doesn’t exist, they just don’t believe he does.
And this is the problem with the popular definition of agnosticism as a “middle” position. Agnosticism, atheism and theism are answers to different questions. While atheism and theism describe our belief, agnosticism (and gnosticism) describe what we know. And if we go by the “lack of belief in god” definition of atheism, all agnostics are actually atheists - they don’t believe god exists (again, this is about belief, not knowledge), since they are supposedly undecided on the question.
And what am I? I’m an agnostic atheist. I don’t know if god exists, but I don’t believe he does.
Actually, there are theist agnostics. There are also agnostics, such as myself, who are neither atheist nor theist. A person can hold a belief without claiming knowledge of if the belief is true.
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Photo reblogged from Kritik der populären Vernunft
This chart is helpful, but a better definition for agnostic atheist might be “believes that no gods exist” rather than “does not believe in any god.” What differentiates agnostic atheists from agnostic theists is not the presence or absense of a belief in god(s), but the beliefs they do have. I don’t describe my agnosticism as atheist or theist because I don’t have a belief either way.
Reblogged from my personal tumblr because I posted it there by mistake.
(Source: kaylamarieabbott)
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The worst part about being agnostic is how hard your uncertainty slaps you in the face when some one dies. While it seems as though everyone takes comfort in the fact that the deceased person is in a ’better place’, I’m convinced that I will never get to say goodbye. Before I fall asleep at night I wonder … what if there is a God and I’m passing up the chance to make right with every person I’ve done wrong?
r.i.p. Brianne, i’m so sorry.
(even if you can’t see this)
If it helps, it is possible to be agnostic and to believe in souls and an afterlife/reincarnation, and it is possible to be atheist and believe in those things. There is some degree of uncertainty for everyone, but the uncertainty can be for the better: if it happens to be the case that this is the only consciousness you will ever experience, it can motivate you to live a life where you try to do as much good as possible before you have to leave. Your friend did good in the world and made many people happy while she was alive, and quite possibly profoundly affected others in her interactions with them. And that is wonderful to know, even if it is the case that we can’t know anything else.
