Why is there so much confusion about the meaning of agnosticism?

Question

Thomas Henry Huxley coined the term 'agnosticism' to mean the following:

"That it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty."

Hence agnosticism is a principle rather than a position. This is quite straightforward - It doesn't mean "God is unknowable" or anything like that, it's just a way of thinking; a method by which we hope to arrive at the right answer, whatever that may be.

So, how did there come to be so much confusion about what agnosticism actually means?

Beletje_vos AM: Exactly so, thank you.

Answer 1

Recent surveys indicate that two out of every three practitioners of agnosticism are unable to correctly spell the word, thus rendering them incapable of reading a proper definition of the word in a dictionary.

Answer 2

Because terms drift over time, and "agnosticism" now covers at least three stances.
1) Individual agnosticism: "I personally am not currently in a position to decide on the existence or not of a deity"
2) Dogmatic agnosticism: "I don't know, and you don't know either. It is clear that the question cannot be resolved with certainty, whatever people may assert".
3) Indifferent agnosticism: "I can't be bothered with the whole area. It bores me and I wish you'd shut up about it."

There may be others.
Yes, it would be very nice if words held their meaning steady,
But then "nice" doesn't mean what it once did, either.

Answer 3

I think it's simply a matter of confusion between theists and atheists. Many I know would simply define agnostics to be between the two.

Also, not everyone believes the same things. One agnostic may describe his or her faith completely differently than you do, but you're both still agnostics. Hence, it then becomes a matter of who can voice their opinions more loudly.

In a sense, some may feel that it is, in fact, correct. It's like an old game I used to play as a child in school: Everyone is seated in a circle, and one person whispers something to the person next to them. He or she relays the message to the person next to them, that person does the same, and so on. By the end of it, the message that gets back to the person that started it, is completely different than what they themselves said; things are twisted, misunderstood, etc.

Imagine that occuring in hundreds, even thousands of branches -- MANY different ideas, and MANY of them incorrect.

Answer 4

Right. An agnostic is someone who simply has no claims on 100% knowledge whether they be atheist or theist.

The confusion comes from ignorance and misconceptions of agnosticism meaning uncertainty or being wishy-washy or weak in position. And, of course, the ever "clever" being confused.

Answer 5

Gnosis is " knowledge" in Greek
A(Alpha privative) is "not"

an agnostic is literally one who does not know

an agnostic in the area of God can be either one who believes that God cannot be known in His/Her/its/their essence or existence

or someone who observes Huxley's definition in the area of the divine

Answer 6

T.H. also said he coined the term because the Vienna crowd all had their own pet "Isms" and he wanted one too.

Answer 7

the function of the 'a' prefix before gnosticism does the same thing as the function of the 'a' prefix before theism.

Answer 8

Agnosticism has no meaning; as Christ said: ' ... he who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters' (Matthew 12:30).

Answer 9

it's easy to understand agnosticism...

they're just like dead squirrels. they can always be found in the middle of the road...

Answer 10

I don't know. Get it! I don't know.
Come on thats funny......sort of