Agnostics

Anonymous Question:

Hmm, since agnostic refers to absence of knowledge, and atheism refers to absence of belief, if one claims no knowledge and also claims no belief but identifies as agnostic, are they not technicaly both agnostic and atheist? I’m under the impression that theism, or belief in god, is a perfect dichotomy? You either do or don’t, regardless of if you can or can’t (damn atheist trees!)

Neece’s Reply:

Hello and thanks for your comment. I just want to remind you that Atheist Hotline isn’t a debate forum. But that being said, yes, you can be both an agnostic and an atheist at the same time. I am not an expert in philosophy, but I would agree that you either believe in god or you don’t. And if you do, then you’re a theist of some persuasion. If you say you can’t know about the existence of god, then you’re agnostic. If you say that there is no god (for whatever reason: lack of evidence for example), then you’re an atheist.

For example, I am agnostic in that I can never know (by the very definition of god, by the nature of how we know as human creatures, etc) if there is a god. But, I am an atheist because I accept that even with that limitation there is zero evidence of any god. I would also have to add that I’m a skeptic and I require evidence and proof. Some atheists are not skeptics, some are. As a skeptic I also accept that there is zero evidence for any kind of supernatural. Everything we’ve discovered so far is completely natural. But there are some atheists, and theists of course, that believe in the supernatural.

So you can mix and match labels.