Agnosticism and Where It Sits on the Spectrum

[Rick]

It always bugs me when I see charts that list agnosticism as something distinct from atheism and theism, as if it was some sort of middle ground position, like this:

[ atheism | agnosticism | theism]

But it seems more like agnosticism -- uncertainty of knowing something -- can apply to either atheism or theism.

In other words, a theist can believe in a god(s) and still be unsure whether it actually exists; this would be agnostic theism.

Likewise, an atheist can disbelieve and still be unsure or even admit to uncertainty due to how difficult falsifying something like all gods would be, and they would be an agnostic atheist.

So instead of the spectrum with three categories above, this spectrum makes a lot more sense to me:

[ gnostic atheism | agnostic atheism | agnostic theism | gnostic theism ]

The first and last positions, due again to the problems in proving or falsifying deities, would seem to be difficult positions to hold outside of faith, with the most honest positions being either of the two agnostic ones.

What do you think?

[twicedouble]

Yup! That’s exactly how I view it.

I’d go farther and say a/gnosticism can be applied to any set of beliefs. I’m agnostic about the Loch Ness Monster, Zeus, and fairies as well.

[Rick]

I'm the same way. If I can't know something with absolute certainty, agnosticism is the only rational position. "Mostly sure" is still an agnostic statement, after all.