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Topic: Weak agnosticism


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  Weak agnosticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weak agnosticism, or empirical agnosticism (also negative agnosticism), is the belief that the existence or nonexistence of deities is currently unknown, but is not necessarily unknowable, therefore one will withhold judgment until more evidence is available.
Weak agnosticism is in contrast to strong agnosticism, in which the agnostic believes that the existence of any gods is not only unknown, but is also unknowable to humanity.
Weak agnosticism often overlaps with, and is often confused with, weak atheism, as both are a lack of belief rather than a belief in lack (of either knowledge or existence, respectively).
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Weak_agnosticism   (442 words)

  
 Weak atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weak atheism contrasts with strong atheism, which is the belief that God or gods do not exist, and theism, which asserts that there is at least one god.
The weak atheist generally gives a broad definition of atheism as a lack or absence of evidence justifying a belief in God or gods, which defines atheism as a range of positions that entail non-belief, disbelief, doubt, or denial of theism.
Weak atheists often argue that their position is the default one: that every person is born without belief in any god or gods, and must be taught the concept before they can become theistic.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Weak_atheism   (625 words)

  
 Wikipedia: Strong agnosticism
Strong agnosticism is in contrast to weak agnosticism, in which the agnostic believes that the existence of any gods is simply unknown, but not necessarily unknowable.
Neither type of agnosticism is irreconcilable with theism (belief in a deity or deities), but both are typically irreconcilable with strong atheism.
Weak agnosticism often overlaps with, and is often confused with, weak atheism, as both are a lack of belief rather than a belief in lack (of either existence or knowledge).
www.factbook.org /wikipedia/en/s/st/strong_agnosticism.html   (121 words)

  
 Agnosticism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Agnosticism is not to be confused with a view specifically opposing the doctrine of gnosis and Gnosticism—these are religious concepts that are not generally related to agnosticism.Agnosticism is distinct from strong atheism (also called positive atheism or dogmatic atheism), which denies the existence of any deities.
Agnostic spiritualism—the view that there may or may not be a god (or gods,) while maintaining a general personal belief in a spiritual aspect of reality, particularly without distinct religious basis, or adherence to any doctrine.
Agnostic views are as old as philosophical skepticism, but the terms agnostic and agnosticism were created by Huxley to sum up his thoughts on contemporary developments of metaphysics about the "unconditioned" (Hamilton) and the "unknowable" (Herbert Spencer).
agnosticism.quickseek.com   (1363 words)

  
 Thelemapedia: The Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick | Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the philosophical and theological view that spiritual truths, such as the existence of God, gods or deities, is either unknown or inherently unknowable.
Agnosticism is not to be confused with a view specifically opposing the doctrine of gnosis and Gnosticism—these are religious concepts that are not generally related to agnosticism.
Agnostics may claim that it is not possible to have absolute or certain spiritual knowledge; Alternately they may claim that while certainty may be possible, they personally have no such knowledge.
www.thelemapedia.org /index.php/Agnosticism   (648 words)

  
 Agnosticism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
A weak agnostic, on the other hand, claims only that he or she does not know whether or not God exists.
Therefore, weak agnosticism does not exclude the possibility of knowing whether God exists; a weak agnostic only claims that he or she does not..
Agnosticism is not necessarily a disbelief in a god; rather, as you have read above, it is simply the belief that it is impossible to KNOW whether or not God exists, or an unwillingness to believe blindly in a god.
www.geocities.com /agnostic05/whatisagnosticism.html   (251 words)

  
 weak agnosticism
Of course, the strong agnostic might be prepared to concede that it is epistemically possible that one of these atheistic claims is correct; but she holds that there is not yet conclusive reason to believe any one of them.
Perhaps the strong agnostic might object that there are obvious differences between the suggested status of the principle to which she appeals and the suggested status of belief in God.
Since the agnostic sees no reason to think that it is no more likely that the world is uncreated than it is that the world was created according to one particular hypothesis about that act of creation, she has no reason to accept the modified version of Forrest's argument.[21] Agnostics can reasonably resist deism.
www.infidels.org /library/modern/graham_oppy/agnostic.html   (8718 words)

  
 SPP Atheist Alliance -- Welcome to Hell...Michigan
Agnosticism is the belief that the question of whether a God or gods exist is unknowable, or currently unknowable.
Weak agnosticism, also known as empirical agnosticism and negative agnosticism, is the belief that the existence of deities is currently unknown, but not neccesarily unknowable.
Agnosticism is not to be understood as the opposite or negative of gnosticism, a religious concept which is unrelated to agnosticism, though the etymology seems to say eitherwise.
www.freewebs.com /sppaa/religionbasedterms.htm   (1426 words)

  
 Theism, Atheism, and Agnosticism
In practice, however, weak atheism and strong atheism are taken to be mutually exclusive; one cannot be both a weak atheist and a strong atheist.
An agnostic, on this view, is someone who does not claim certainty when all that is available is probability, someone who measures their beliefs to the strength of their reasons for so believing.
Weak Agnosticism: Absence both of belief in the existence of God and of belief in the non-existence of God.
www.philosophyofreligion.info /definitions.html   (805 words)

  
 Atheism and Non-Religious Philosophies: Definitions
The agnostic holds that human knowledge is limited to the natural world, that the mind is incapable of knowledge of the supernatural.
It is thus possible to separate agnostics in two groups, labeled strong agnosticism and weak agnosticism as analogs to strong atheism and weak atheism.
Weak atheism, also sometimes referred to as implicit atheism, is simply another name for the broadest and most general conception of atheism: the absence of belief in any gods.
www.pluralism.org /resources/tradition/atheism.php   (1900 words)

  
 sciforums.com - Definitions: Atheism and Agnosticsm.
However, there are variations on the definition of agnosticism which involve the concepts of theist agnosticism and atheist agnosticism, but I find that these subtle variations are not widely held and attempts to use them here have simply been met with confusion.
To reduce the amount of confusion over the use of term agnosticism, it is recommended that usage based on a belief that we cannot know whether God exists be qualified as "strict agnosticism" and usage based on the belief that we merely do not know yet be qualified as "empirical agnosticism".
An Agnostic Atheist is one who does not believe in a deity (or believes that no deity exists) but does not claim to have knowledge regarding the existence of a deity.
www.sciforums.com /printthread.php?t=26679&pp=40   (2886 words)

  
 Atheism
Weak atheism is the disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
Weak atheism is often confused with agnosticism, the lack of belief or disbelief in God or gods, and skepticism, the doctrine that the absolute knowledge of God's existence is unobtainable by mere man. Many agnostics and skeptics are "practical atheists" in that they actively pursue an atheistic lifestyle.
Weak atheism, agnosticism and skepticism are all "I don't know" theological positions, with weak atheists subscribing to atheistic presuppositions, true agnostics "sitting on the fence," and skeptics capitulating to ignorance.
www.allaboutphilosophy.org /atheism.htm   (588 words)

  
 Thelemapedia: The Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick | Atheism
It is possible to be a theistic agnostic (holding that the existence of a deity is unprovable, but continuing to have faith) or an agnostic atheist (holding the same, but without the faith).
This may be based on the view that there is insufficient evidence or grounds to justify belief in deities, on grounds such as the problem of evil, on arguments that the concept of a deity is self-contradictory and therefore impossible, or on the assertion that any belief in the supernatural is not rationally justifiable.
However, many strong atheists, agnostics, and theists use a narrower definition of atheism, according to which it is the active "denial of the existence of God or gods".
www.thelemapedia.org /index.php/Atheism   (3890 words)

  
 Open Directory Project > Society> Religion and Spirituality> Agnosticism
Agnosticism (1889) - - This is the full text of Thomas Huxley's essay explaining and defending Agnosticism.
Agnosticism 101 - - Definition and history of the concept of agnosticism, comparisons with atheism, and examination of its origins.
Weak Agnosticism - - Graham Oppy defends "weak agnosticism," the view that "it is permissible for reasonable persons to suspend judgement on the question of God's existence..
www.bie.no /products/phpodp/odp.php?browse=/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Agnosticism   (919 words)

  
 Atheism
This is related but not equivalent to agnosticism, which affirms that a person cannot have firm knowledge of the existence or the inexistence of any deity.
"Weak atheism" as defined above is also referred to in some circles as "weak agnosticism" while "agnosticism" as defined above is specified as "strong agnosticism." Moreover, in the freethought tradition, strong and weak atheism are also called positive and negative atheism.
In the 2001 Australian Census 15.5% of respondents ticked 'no religion' and a further 11.7% either did not state their religion or were deemed to have described it inadequately (there was a popular campaign at the time to have people describe themselves as Jedi).
www.findthelinks.com /Religion/atheism.htm   (1627 words)

  
 Recovery Site Locator- Where you find 1000's of self-help links, recovery links, and 12 step sites in one location ...
Agnosticism (1889) - This is the full text of Thomas Huxley's essay explaining and defending Agnosticism.
Agnosticism FAQ - Definition and history of the concept of agnosticism, along with an argument that agnosticism not a "third way" between atheism and theism.
Weak Agnosticism - Graham Oppy defends "weak agnosticism," the view that "it is permissible for reasonable persons to suspend judgement on the question of God's existence."
recoverysitelocator.20fr.com /agnosticism.html   (1002 words)

  
 Apologia Atheos: Definition of strong/weak atheism and agnosticism
Sometimes agnosticism is popularly defined as one who doesn't believe that there is a god, while at the same time believing that there is a god.
Yet another definition of agnosticism is the belief that the existence of a god or gods is intrinsically unknowable.
Instead they define agnosticism as the belief that god is unknown and/or unknowable, but if god is unknown the weak atheist position is the default position.
www.update.uu.se /~fbendz/atheism/definitions.html   (1710 words)

  
 [Understanding Atheism and Agnosticism] A180.net   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Agnosticism is an epistemological position; that is, agnosticism concerns knowledge, particularly one's knowledge of God (or lack thereof).
The weak agnostic does not claim that knowledge is impossible, only that he himself does not have any knowledge of God.
An agnostic could be one who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God (this is "strong" agnosticism, and arguably the most common understanding of "agnostic" used by agnostics).
www.a180.net /atheism_agnosticism.html   (1168 words)

  
 The agnostic fallacy
Agnosticism is part of that gradient : it claims that the kind of knowledge stated in propositions R and P is irrational.
An agnostic atheist is someone who does not believe in gods regardless of their lack of knowledge on the question.
In his article "A Formal Justification of Agnosticism", he proposes that agnosticism is valid because logic is invalid in cases where we do not observe facts of reality directly.
www.objectivethought.com /atheism/agnostic.html   (1367 words)

  
 All Sides of the Story   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Since that time, however, the term agnostic has also been used to describe those that do not believe that the question is intrinsically unknowable, but instead believe that the evidence for or against God is inconclusive, and therefore are undecided about the issue.
To reduce the amount of confusion over the use of term agnosticism, it is recommended that usage based on the original definition be qualified as "strict agnosticism" and usage based on the second definition be qualified as "empirical agnosticism".
Some also add Agnosticism as a world-view, but strictly speaking it is not a particular world view, but stating that one does not (or cannot) know what is the correct world-view.
www.teachingreligion.com /agnosticism/beliefs.html   (457 words)

  
 Agnosticism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Agnostic testimonies submitted by readers and a monthly religious newswatch which takes a cock-eyed look at religious news stories from around the world.
Brian Stanley responds to agnosticism as a Christian, and claims it is an attempt to avoid the issue.
Personal site of an agnostic woman seeking friendship with a chivalrous agnostic or atheist who'd like to be married to the right woman some day.
www.medlina.com /agnosticism.htm   (785 words)

  
 All Sides of the Story
Intending to show that agnosticism is a legitimate religious doctrine, not just indecision between belief and disbelief in god.
Graham Oppy defends "weak agnosticism," the view that "it is permissible for reasonable persons to suspend judgement on the question of God's existence."
Definitions of agnosticism, weak agnosticism and strong agnosticism.
www.teachingreligion.com /agnosticism/links.html   (234 words)

  
 Agnosticism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Agnosticism is the believe that it is impossible to know certain things for sure.
The term 'agnosticism' was coined by Professor Huxley at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1876.
He defined an agnostic as someone who disclaimed ("strong") atheism and believed that the ultimate origin of things must be some cause unknown and unknowable.
www.iwriteiam.nl /GEm_ag.html   (280 words)

  
 Yelling @ Nothing
“Weak” atheists are generally referred to as agnostics, and can be divided once again into “strong” and “weak” categories; believing that it is obligatory or permissible (respectively) that a rational person to suspend judgment on the question of God’s existence.
Because weak agnosticism merely states that it is permissible and reasonable (not obligatory) for one to withhold judgment concerning a higher power, weak agnostics are uniquely suited to consider all sides of the debate.
“Weak” agnosticism operates on a simple principle: “one is justified in continuing fully to accept something in the absence of special reason not to [12].” Acceptance of all points of view is the default.
jaded.politicals.com /atheistculture.html   (1242 words)

  
 Atheism   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Some weak atheists are without any opinion regarding the existence of deities, either because of a lack of thought on the matter, a lack of interest in the matter (see [[apatheism]]), or a belief that the arguments and evidence provided by both theists and strong atheists are equally unpersuasive.
Agnostic atheism is typically contrasted with [[agnostic theism]], the belief that deities exist even though it is impossible to know that deities exist, and with gnostic atheism, the belief that there is enough information to determine that deities do not exist.''Agnostic atheism'''s definition varies, just as the definitions of agnosticism and atheism do.
When it is with weak gnosticism, it denotes the belief that there is enough information to be reasonably sure that deities do not exist, but not absolutely certain.''Gnostic atheism'' is also sometimes used as a synonym of [[strong atheism]], and thus ''agnostic atheism'' is occasionally a synonym for [[weak atheism]].
atheism.quickseek.com   (6470 words)

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