Agnostic

Agnostic
the philosophical view that the truth values of certain claims — particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or deities — are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent, and therefore, (some agnostics may go as far to say) irrelevant to life. Agnosticism, in both its strong (explicit) and weak (implicit) forms, is necessarily a non-atheist and non-theist position, though an agnostic person may also be either an atheist, a theist, or one who endorses neither position.
• Agnostic atheism - the philosophical view that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Due to definitional variance, an agnostic atheist does not believe in God or gods and by extension holds true: 'the existence and nonexistence of deities is currently unknown and may be absolutely unknowable', or 'knowledge of the existence and nonexistence of deities is irrelevant or unimportant', or 'abstention from claims of knowledge of the existence and nonexistence of deities is optimal'.
• Agnostic theism - the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist is one who views that the truth value of claims regarding the existence of god(s) is unknown or inherently unknowable but chooses to believe in god(s) in spite of this.
• Strong agnosticism - also referred to as explicit agnosticism and positive agnosticism, it is the view that the evidence in the universe is such that it is impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist.
• Weak agnosticism - the position that the evidence is such that the existence or nonexistence of deities is currently unknown, but is not necessarily unknowable. Also called implicit agnosticism, empirical agnosticism, and negative agnosticism.

Mini philosophy glossary . 2014.

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  • agnostic — AGNÓSTIC, Ă, agnostici, ce, adj., s.m. şi f. 1. adj. Care aparţine agnosticismului, privitor la agnosticism. 2. s.m. şi f. Adept al agnosticismului. – Din fr. agnostique. Trimis de ana zecheru, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  agnóstic …   Dicționar Român

  • agnostic — (n.) 1870, one who professes that the existence of a First Cause and the essential nature of things are not and cannot be known [Klein]; coined by T.H. Huxley (1825 1895), supposedly in September 1869, from Gk. agnostos unknown, unknowable, from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • agnostic — [ag näs′tik] n. [coined (1870) by HUXLEY Thomas Henry < A 2 + GNOSTIC] a person who believes that the human mind cannot know whether there is a God or an ultimate cause, or anything beyond material phenomena adj. of or characteristic of an… …   English World dictionary

  • Agnostic — Ag*nos tic, a. [Gr. a priv. + ? knowing, ? to know.] Professing ignorance; involving no dogmatic; pertaining to or involving agnosticism. {Ag*nos tic*al*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Agnostic — Ag*nos tic, n. One who professes ignorance, or denies that we have any knowledge, save of phenomena; one who supports agnosticism, neither affirming nor denying the existence of a personal Deity, a future life, etc. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • agnostic — index skeptical Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • agnostic — n *atheist, deist, freethinker, unbeliever, infidel …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • agnostic — [n] person unsure that God exists doubter, freethinker, materialist, skeptic, unbeliever; concept 361 Ant. believer …   New thesaurus

  • agnostic — ► NOUN ▪ a person who believes that nothing can be known concerning the existence of God. ► ADJECTIVE ▪ relating to agnostics. DERIVATIVES agnosticism noun …   English terms dictionary

  • agnostic — [[t]ægnɒ̱stɪk[/t]] agnostics 1) N COUNT An agnostic believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists or not. Compare atheist. Vasari claimed with horror that he was, if not an atheist, then an agnostic. Syn: unbeliever 2) ADJ Agnostic… …   English dictionary

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