nobe4 / Posts / A*ism _

Agnosticism and Atheism are often used interchangeably.

However they mean different things, and ought to be used precisely.

• Atheism: absence of belief

  • Implicit Atheism absence of belief without conscious rejection
  • Explicit Atheism: absence of belief with conscious rejection
  • Negative Atheism: absence of belief without assertion of absence
  • Positive Atheism: absence of belief with possibility of absence
  • Explicit Positive Atheism: absence of belief with assertion of absence

• Agnosticism: absence of knowledge

  • Strong Agnosticism: absence of knowledge with rejection of its attainability
  • Weak Agnosticism: absence of knowledge without rejection of its attainability

E.g.

Gnostism is misguided, as unprovable ideas can’t be knowable.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_and_explicit_atheism