Atheism and Agnosticim

There seems to be several definitions of atheist and agnostic (as well as god, for that matter). Thus, this blogger would like to spend a few moments in an effort to clarify the definitions of these terms.

An atheist is simply one who does not have a belief in a diety (a=without; theist=god). An agnostic is simply one who has no knowledge of a subject (a=without; gnostic=knowledge). Unfortunately, these two terms have become conflated, with the use of the term agnostic being used by some to indicate a "watered-down" position relative to non-belief in god.

Richard Dawkins had provided a 7-point scale of theist belief that seems to incorporate the true meaning of these two words:

• 1 = certain knowledge that god exists
• 7 = certain knowledge that god does not exist

This blogger places himself on the 6 point mark, as the evidence shows that it is very improbable that there is a god but there is a still some uncertainty. This opinion seems reasonable, as absolute knowledge is not possible for a human being.

Since the tools of science cannot give absolute certainly on this, or any other, question, it is the opinion of this blogger that any reasonable person is an agnostic regarding a diety. To further expand this opinion, it seems reasonable to conclude that anyone on the 1 or the 7 mark is not reasonable and is making unsupported claims based on "personal experience" and/or religious or philosophical dogma.

This blogger unequivocally states that, regarding the question of god, he is an atheist and an agnostic.