Why do agnostics call themselves agnostics when by default they are atheists?

Question

Agnostics in the modern sense are people that don't believe in god yet don't assure that god doesn't exist, yet the very definition of atheism is a lack of belief in god. Asserting that god doesn't or cannot exist does happen amongst some Atheists though that is not usually the norm. Ergo, Agnostics are really Atheists.

You can stop reading here if you don't care about the history of the term agnostic.

For those that don't know, being Agnostic in its pure form is to not have knowledge of god, so someone can be a theist because they believe in god although they don't have any personal knowledge of god (as for example not having seen him). It isn't until someone decided to rape the original meaning of Agnostics that it was thought of as something independant of Theism and Atheism. I think this created the whole big confusion for so called Agnostics that don't really understand they are Atheists.

Answer 1

Well I don't like to be classed with a bunch of arrogant and rude group of people, many atheists seem to think they know it all when in fact they are limiting themselves just by saying there is no sky fairy, end of story, I agree, there is no sky fairy, there is no man in clouds with a long beard, but the concept of god that society seems to accept is different than what I think should be, I'm an agnostic because although I wouldn't consider it god, but a source of existence or light would be the source of creation of all of existence unless the universe is a cycle of creation and destruction, which wouldn't still take out the possibility because there's also a theory of multiple universes and no one knows for sure what is the 'source', even though atheists get past the sky fairy ****, they're so full of themselves and can't open up their minds to a different concept of 'god', and even if it wouldn't be referred to as god, the Hindu concept of god is a source of light, so god can mean anything, people are just used to god being characterisitic of humans with a conscience and mind when in actuality, 'god' would never be like that, I'm not an agnostic because I'm too afraid to give up religion because of fear of hell or something, but I'm more open to things about the universe

and although atheists like the idea of being masters of themselves, get over it, you aren't, life always has it's own plan, and I'm not bringing up destiny or fate, because that's all bullshit too, but the choices you make don't govern life, it's a combination of everyone's choices, others' choices affect your life too, so really, you're not the master of anything but your mind and thoughts

I'm agnostic because of indifference, there may be a god, there isn't, I act like an atheist because I know I'm not going to be judged but I also know that there is no way of knowing what exists and what doesn't

Answer 2

As an atheist I can't understand why a rational agnostic would believe that the existence of God and his non-existence are equally likely. Every atheist would become a believer in a flash if the EVIDENCE was there for the existence of God - but in the perfect absence of evidence, being a de facto atheist is the most logical choice. It is VERY VERY unlikely that a god exists, and even less likely if one did that most people had chosen the right one. So atheism looks at the facts and acts upon them. I don't think that is true of agnostics, because they miss out a crucial stage of that last part.

Agnostics seem to make the common error that theists make that what is important it proof. Proof is non-existent, philosophically, for almost every concept, including those far more categorical than whether or not a god exists. What matters is EVIDENCE. Evidence lends support to a position whether it can be proved or not (and it probably can't). The atheists' point is that the default position is not to believe in the absence of evidence. This applies to dragons, fairies, leprechauns. The evidence for these is approximately the same as there is for a god. Therefore, while not dismissing the possibility that evidence might arise one day for any of these, falling back onto a de facto atheist position is logical and sensible. Agnosticism seems to ignore this process of weighing up the evidence available and settles for the unhelpful truth that neither is proved - forgetting that proof is irrelevant.

My guess is that most agnostics believe that evolution is the best explanation for the formation of species including humans, but as any good theist will tell you, evolution hasn't been proved. If agnostics are applying logic, they should choose one of the following for consistency's sake:

1) be agnostic about dragons, fairies, etc, as well as god
2) be agnostic about evolution as well as god
3) consider the evidence and settle for one position AS THE BEST POSSIBLE EXPLANATION BASED ON THAT EVIDENCE AT THE PRESENT TIME

Answer 3

Well as you point out, there are some atheists who assert that no god exists. So some people may call themselves agnostics to dissociate themselves from that group. Personally I have noticed a tendency for people to use the term atheist only to refer to those who do assert that no god exists, with the term agnostic referring to those who aren't sure either way. I understand that this isn't really the correct usage of the word atheism, but you can usually tell what people mean.

Answer 4

In a technical sense you may be correct about the linguistics of the word "agnostic". However, I think people are classified in a more real-world sense. I consider myself agnostic because I won't declare a "truth" for either the belief or non-belief in God. I feel that there is no way to know, and most often I don't care. Atheists, on the other hand, vehemently deny that God exists. In many ways they are similar, but there is a fine distinction.

Again, linguistically you are correct in the meaning of "agnostic" perhaps encompassing atheism's standpoint.

Answer 5

There is a huge difference between athiest and agnostic...

in our society today regardless of whatever definition is the approved one there are those who feel there is a HIGHER BEING, HIGHER POWER, HIGHER FORCE.

Some may actually have some faith or belief in a God of THEIR own understanding but they do not choose at this time to accept the religion that 'controls' the rules to get to this God.

Or they believe in the sun, the earth, whatever.

Athiests proactively believe that their own self will and their brain is the answer to everything... "just common sense"

Answer 6

First of all your definition of agnostic is incorrect. All agnostic means is that you have an avowed lack of knowledge about something. One could be agnostic about anything, it doesn't only apply to god.

In fact EVERYONE is agnostic. There is no way to know for sure that a god either exists or doesn't. Atheists however realize that it is most likely that no gods have ever existed.

Answer 7

I have been taught that Agnostics understand that the existence or nonexistence of the Deity cannot be proven or disproven. If you understand "proven" to refer to the scientific method, and test tubes, and stuff like that, then Agnosticism is NOT a statement regarding the existence of "God" so much as a commentary on the appropriateness of science to consider this question. Agnosticism DOES NOT deny belief. Words are abused by many people for their own more or less evil purposes, and they change in meaning over time as they are misused, and the misuse becomes common use. You may take issue with "MY" use of the word. It may even be "wrong" -- that is, not the normal use of the word. I am not intentionally violating normal usage, though I may have been misinformed, or I may be misremembering.

Answer 8

I'm agnostic but sometimes I call myself athiest because I find myself really nodding my head to some of the things athiests say.

Basically I say that it isn't 100% impossible that there are beings that are of a higher power than humans but I don't believe what is written in bibles, korans, etc because that is all man-made and used simply for controlling people and turning them into followers. Propoganda if you like.

Answer 9

An Agnostic doesn't believe that God (or gods) doesn't exist, only that there is no way of knowing whether God exists or which God(s) exist.

It's not the same thing at all as an Athiest, who firmly believes that no Gods exist.

There may be some "agnostics" who are really athiest but are hedging their bets, but to claim that all people who call themselves agnostics are really athiests is ridiculous.

Answer 10

Agnostics do not know. The very meaning of Agnostic is "no knowledge".
Atheists state there is no God period, not that they do not know if there is or not.