Agnostic? Atheists?

Question

Whats the difference? I always thought that Agnostic meant there is no belief in any sort of higher power.. and that Atheists believe in God they just dont believe he wants anything to do with them?

Answer 1

Agnostics do not dismiss the possibility of a higher power, so they are neutral.

Atheists dismiss the whole thing completely.

Answer 2

The term 'agnostic' was coined by Thomas Huxley and it refers quite simply to a person who holds the view that it is wrong to assert the truth of a proposition without logically satisfactory evidence.

So, an agnostic would say that it's wrong to say "God exists" or "No gods exist" without the argument or evidence to back it up. Moreover, the agnostic would say that it's immoral for a person to tell someone else that they *ought* to believe in the existence of a god or gods without providing logically satisfactory evidence to support that claim.

A 'theist' is defined as someone who believes in the existence of a god or gods, so an atheist is anyone who is not a theist.

So you can be agnostic and also an atheist, or agnostic and a theist, or not agnostic and an atheist, or not agnostic and a theist.

Answer 3

They're not mutually exclusive. You can be an agnostic atheist (as I am).

To understand the terms, look at the root words.

Gnostic means having knowledge. So, agnostic means not having knowledge. That's a simple definition, but we'll roll with that.

Theism means having gods. Naturally, atheism means not having gods. A bit more straightforward.

An atheist can be an agnostic atheist or a gnostic atheist. To sum up, an agnostic atheist says, "I do not believe in the existence of gods," while a gnostic atheist says, "I believe that gods do not exist." The gnostic atheist *knows* that there are no gods. This may result from accepting that the lack of evidence of gods leads to the conclusion that no gods must exist.

Theism works the same way. A gnostic theist says, "I know that gods exist," while an agnostic theist says, "I believe that gods exist."

Personally, I'm wary of all gnostic people. A gnostic atheist doesn't accept that supernatural beings like gods could exist outside of our perception, which doesn't strike me as necessary (though the result is the same in the end). A gnost theist claims to have an experience that no one else can observe. Such a claim is worthy of examination from the standpoint of abnormal psychology.

Edit: To address one of your previous thoughts, "...believe in God they just dont believe he wants anything to do with them." That is a bit more like deism.

Answer 4

Nope. Agnostics have not decided whether to believe in god(s) or not and atheists do not see any reason to do so.

Atheists do not believe there is a god (or gods). Some take it further and believe that there is no god(s).

I believe you can both not believe in god and keep your mind open for further evidence. Agnostics have not made a decision, while atheists have.

Answer 5

Atheists don't believe in gods.

Atheists are generally people who recognize that there is no evidence for the existence of gods, and draw the reasonable conclusion from that fact.

Agnostics are people who don't buy most of the arguments for the existence of gods, but aren't really able to completely break away from the cultural assumption that there are gods. They seem to have the same problem that many believers have understanding the significance of the burden of evidence, so they believe that "there being no evidence either way, we don't know whether or not there are gods".

Answer 6

An Atheist does not believe in a god because the existence of god can not be scientifically proven.

An Agnostic is open that there may be a god, but does not "yet" believe in the concept of a god until god is proven to them.

Atheists KNOW that god can NOT be proven to them.

Agnostics are neutral, waiting for someone to prove to them that god exists.

Agnostics are not quite sure if god exists or not.

Atheists KNOW for a fact, that god does not exist. They KNOW that no one can prove to them that a god exists, but merely often toy with people, to make their futile attempts to humor them.

This is the distinction which I see, observe.

Answer 7

I would put it this way. An agnostic shrugs off the idea of God as philosophically unknowable, and not worthy of meaningful consideration. An atheist considers it within the realm of consideration, considers it, and rejects it.

I think they mean the same thing, but the disbelief comes from a different path of reasoning.

Answer 8

An agnostic is someone who believes that the existence of god can neither be proven nor disproven.

An atheist is someone who believes that there is no god.

I am an atheistic agnostic. I believe that there is no god, but I also believe that the existence of any god can neither be proven nor disproven.
.

Answer 9

Agnostic is the unknown, they don't know if there is a god or no god, so they stay neutral.

Atheists don't believe in god.

Answer 10

Atheism is the disbelief[1] in the existence of any deities.[2] It is contrasted with theism, the belief in a God or gods. Atheism is commonly defined as the positive belief that deities do not exist, or as the deliberate rejection of theism.[3][4][5] However, others—including most atheistic philosophers and groups—define atheism as the simple absence of belief in deities[6][7][8] (cf. nontheism), thereby designating many agnostics, and people who have never heard of gods, such as newborn children, as atheists as well.[9][10] In recent years, some atheists have adopted the terms strong and weak atheism to clarify whether they consider their stance one of positive belief (strong atheism) or the mere absence of belief (weak atheism).[11][12][13]

Many self-described atheists share common skeptical concerns regarding supernatural claims, citing a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Other rationales for atheism range from the philosophical to the social to the historical. Although atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism, rationalism, and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors that all atheists adhere to.[14][15][16]

In Western culture, atheists are frequently assumed to be irreligious or non-spiritual.[17] However, some religious and spiritual beliefs, such as several forms of Buddhism, have been described by outside observers as conforming to the broader, negative definition of atheism due to their lack of any participating deities.[18][19] Atheism is also sometimes equated with antitheism (opposition to theism) or antireligion (opposition to religion), despite many atheists not holding such views.[20]



Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning "without" and gnosis, "knowledge", translating to unknowable) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities—is unknown or (possibly) inherently unknowable.

Agnostics claim either that it is not possible to have absolute or certain knowledge or, alternatively, that while certainty may be possible, they personally have no knowledge. Agnosticism in both cases involves some form of skepticism.

Demographic research services[1] normally list agnostics alongside categories such as atheist and non-religious, although this is misleading, since religious people can be agnostic (indicating a lack of absolute certainty, therefore treating their religion as a faith).