Confused!!

ismisecathy

Can someone explain to me the difference between atheism and agnosticism? I realise this is possibly a very stupid question!

coffee_cake

Atheism has no belief whatsoever in any god, or believes there is no god.
Agnosticism doesn't know if there is a god or not, or believes we won't ever be able to know.
One's firm, other's more fence-sitting.

ismisecathy

Thanks very much! Perfect!

Scofflaw

bluewolf wrote:

One's firm, other's more fence-sitting.

Tsk tsk. One could equally well say that one is a belief, the other is not...

cordially,
Scofflaw

Zombrex

Dawkins defines 7 stages of religious belief -

1 - 100 per cent probability of God. A strong theist. "I don't believe, I know"

2 - Very high probability but just short of 100 per cent. De facto theist. "I cannot know for certain, but I strongly believe"

3 - Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. Technically agnostic but leaning towards theism.

4 - Exactly 50 per cent. Completely impartial agnostic. "Gods existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable"

5 - Lover than 50 per cent. Technically agnostic but leaning towards atheism

6 - Very low probability, but short of zero. Def facto atheists. "I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there

7 - 0 per cent. Strong atheists. "I know there is no God, which the same conviction as a theist in no. 1"

From a scientific point of view postion 1 and 7 are not very logical positions to hold, as we cannot be never be certain of anythings existence or non-existence.

Dawkins considers himself in position 6, as would I for myself.

This is what I would consider the logical atheist position. As far as I'm concerned God doesn't exist, any more than fairies and dragons exist. While it is impossible at the moment to prove this scientifically I live my life under the assumption he doesn't nor do I entertain the possibility that he does.

A theist would occupy positions 1 and 2 while an agnostic could fall between 3 and 5 depending on how much he has thought about it and how much he is prepared to say either way on the likelyhood of God.

Dades

ismisecathy wrote:

Can someone explain to me the difference between atheism and agnosticism? I realise this is possibly a very stupid question!

Bear in mind, one persons definition of atheist would be agnostic in another person's view - and vice versa. Quite often, which camp you belong to depends on the definition of a "god" you are using to begin with.

And if there's one thing we've learned from this forum it's that everyone has an opinion on the matter.

Zombrex

The Atheist wrote:

And if there's one thing we've learned from this forum it's that everyone has an opinion on the matter.

And that all opinions are wrong except for mine ...

coffee_cake

Scofflaw wrote:

Tsk tsk. One could equally well say that one is a belief, the other is not...

cordially,
Scofflaw

I gave the belief and non belief side of both

Crucifix

Great post, Wicknight.
I'd say I'm between a 5 or a 6, but I'm never sure whether to give my religious position as atheist or agnostic; generally I end up settling for 'no religion', or a tedious summing up of my thoughts on the matter.

Zombrex

Crucifix wrote:

Great post, Wicknight

You have Prof. Dawkins to thank for that, and if I remember it correctly from "The God Delusion", he himself based it on something from somewhere else

Unless you are talking about the "all opinions but mine are wrong" post, in which case it was a great post, a great post in deed



(anyone else in a good mood because its kinda nearly Friday ....)