On the pages of popular science publications devoted to people’s attitudes toward religion, one has to deal with a number of specific terms. In particular, the authors of publications often divide people into two different categories - atheists and agnostics. What is the difference between them? If with the former the question is more or less clear, since in the Soviet period the majority of our compatriots considered themselves to be among them, then with regard to the latter it is not so simple. Let's try to figure it out.
A short excursion into linguistics
Starting a conversation about how an atheist differs from an agnostic, let’s clarify the meaning of each of these terms. Let us turn to their etymology, that is, the origin of the words themselves. Both nouns, “atheist” and “agnostic,” begin with the prefix “a,” which expresses negation. The difference is that in the first case it refers to the noun “theos” - god, and in the second to “gnosis” - knowledge. Thus, it is not difficult to guess that the difference between atheists and agnostics is that the former deny God, and the latter deny a certain knowledge, which will be discussed below.
How to understand who is an agnostic and who is an atheist?
There is a simple test that can easily determine whether a person is an agnostic or not, or which category he belongs to.
- If a person says that he knows for sure about the existence of some gods or one god, then he is not an agnostic, but a theist. That is, a believer who is familiar to us. Which god is another conversation.
- And if he believes and even knows for sure that God does not exist, then this is not a representative of agnosticism, but of atheism. That is, I am 100% confident in my ideas. It’s even simply pointless to convince him of anything. Unless to show the real arguments.
- Anyone who cannot answer “yes” to one of these questions is a person who may or may not believe in one or more gods. Or he believes, but cannot rationally explain the concept itself. Therefore, doubt arises within him. This person belongs to the group of agnostics.
I don’t admit it because I don’t believe it!
First of all, we should refute the common and extremely erroneous opinion that an atheist is an unbeliever. Not at all. He is just a believer, but he believes not in the existence of God, but in his absence. He is driven precisely by blind faith, since he cannot prove his point of view with any sensory sensations or logical constructions. History knows a number of thinkers who tried to build an evidence base based on logical conclusions, but the results of their work can hardly be called convincing.
Having taken the path of unfounded denial of not only God, but also everything supernatural in general, atheists thereby preach the self-sufficiency of the material world, and at the same time the purely human origin of all religions without exception. By this they contrast themselves with theists - supporters of the divine origin of all things. As a rule, representatives of this category of people adhere to secular philosophical trends, such as humanism, materialism, naturalism, etc.
Possible, but unprovable
In turn, agnostics are in no hurry to make such categorical statements, although they are also not fans of the supernatural. What is the difference? Atheists and agnostics motivate their positions in different ways. If the former categorically assert that there is no God, then the latter generally refuse to give an answer to this key question. Their deep conviction is that the world around us is, in principle, unknowable, and therefore, it is impossible to obtain the only correct answer regarding the existence of God. This is precisely the fundamental difference between agnostics and atheists.
Gnostic and agnostic - the difference
Atheism and agnosticism have united in such a direction as atheistic agnosticism, in which belief in any deity is denied, but the presence of divine manifestation as a whole is not denied. In addition to agnostics, there is also the opposite “camp” - gnostics (some philosophers consider them true believers). What is the difference between Gnostics and Agnostics?
- Agnostics question the knowledge of God, Gnostics simply know that he exists.
- Followers of Gnosticism believe in the truth of human knowledge through the knowledge of reality through scientific and mystical experience; agnostics believe that the world is unknowable.
Famous agnostics of the past
It is known that the term “agnosticism,” which expresses such a skeptical attitude towards knowledge of the external world, was first introduced into use by the English scientist Thomas Huxley in 1869, but the doctrine itself appeared much earlier, back in ancient times. In the 18th century, its brightest exponents were the Scotsman David Hume (1711–1776, portrait shown above) and the German Immanuel Kant (1724–1804, portrait shown below).
The latter, in particular, argued that since we can judge the world around us only on the basis of the sensations that it generates in us, then there can be no talk of any objectivity of perception. The logic of his reasoning boiled down to the fact that in our minds the picture of the world is nothing more than a product of the brain, created on the basis of the information it received from the senses.
However, no one guarantees that it is true, since vision, hearing, smell, etc. often fail us. In addition, the human brain, unfortunately, is far from a perfect instrument, and can also distort the picture of the reality around us. Simply put, Kant, and with him all the philosophers who shared his point of view, rejected the real possibility of having an objective judgment in matters relating to the world order. This is the main difference between the views of agnostics and the position of atheists, who were their opponents and, fiercely denying the existence of God, did not allow even a shadow of doubt that they were right.
The essence of agnosticism
The term “agnosticism” itself comes from the Greek “agnostos”, which means “unidentifiable”. It is impossible to simply believe or not believe in something if there is no objective evidence for it.
Thomas Huxley said that an agnostic can only rely on reliable facts; in their absence, he will not assert anything.
Also, an agnostic will never impose any statements on others, presenting them as truth, if he cannot provide evidence that this is really true.
Contradictions that have taken the form of conflicts
Both of them have always come into conflict with believers, the number of which, according to sociological surveys, is constantly increasing. For people who recognize God as the creator of the world, agnostics and atheists are equally ideological opponents. What is the difference in the reactions of representatives of these two very numerous categories of people to criticism of the positions they occupy, which sometimes turns into violent attacks? Let's talk about this specifically.
As for atheists, in disputes with believers they never bothered to prove that they were right, since they could not present any convincing arguments and always locked themselves in their stubbornness. The discussion about the existence of God between atheists and believers, as a rule, boiled down to the fact that one of the parties persistently, but completely unsubstantiated, repeated: “There is!”, while the other repeated its own, also based on nothing: “No! » As a result, they always became irreconcilable enemies.
The form that their confrontation took depended on a number of external circumstances. Thus, in certain historical periods, church ministers with a light heart sent to the stake everyone who expressed doubts about the truth of religious dogmas. At other stages of the development of society, militant atheists shot and imprisoned both God's shepherds themselves and their parishioners.
The most famous atheists
Leonardo da Vinci
is an innovative inventor of the Renaissance. His drawings and designs were far ahead of his time. He criticized Catholicism and tried to scientifically substantiate the absence of God.
Karl Marx
- philosopher, writer, economist, sociologist. Author of the quote: “Religion is the opium of the people.” One of the most influential and prominent political thinkers in the world. He always openly declared his atheism and attitude towards the church.
Richard Dawkins
is one of the most influential atheists of the new millennium. The author of many books on atheism, his book The God Delusion brought him to the attention of the public around the world. He is working with Lawrence Cross on the film The Unbelievers.
Bertrand Russell
- mathematician, philosopher, social critic. In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his humanistic ideals. He considered religion a means of suppressing personality.
Arthur Clarke
- science fiction writer, inventor, scientist. His works inspired a whole generation of scientists to explore, create, and strive for truth. He adhered to the philosophy of atheism. In 1999 he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
Sam Harris
is the author of The End of Faith. Believes that religion can become a serious problem in the future of humanity due to the terror generated by religion.
Emma Thompson is a Hollywood actress, winner of two Oscars. Considers the entire religious system to be very harmful. Treats any religion with suspicion and fear, does not accept everything said in the Bible and the Koran.
Convenient ideological position
In this regard, one more difference between atheists and agnostics can be cited. It consists in the fact that the latter never entered into open conflict with the ministers of the church. Moreover, this was explained not by a lack of integrity, but solely by the convenience of the position they occupied. Adherents of agnosticism in disputes with churchmen have always had the opportunity to “smooth out the rough edges” by declaring: “We fully admit that you are right, although we do not see evidence of this.”
They answered the same to atheists. As a result, it was possible to maintain completely peaceful relations with both those and others. The position is definitely comfortable. It always made it possible, without formally compromising principles, to avoid confrontation and not make enemies. This is why atheists and agnostics have coexisted so peacefully for centuries. The difference between them is purely conditional. Some say: “We deny God,” others repeat: “We cannot believe in his existence,” which, in essence, is the same thing.
Intelligent choice for agnostics
In this regard, the question arises: what, in this case, prevents atheists from avoiding unnecessary attacks, because to do this it is enough not to position themselves as enemies of the church, but only to evade accepting its teachings, citing its unprovability? Obviously, there can be two reasons. The first, called "intellectual choice", is that many atheists consider the agnostic theory to be false because, as they claim, there is an error at its very core.
Atheists point out that, from the position of ontology, that is, the doctrine of being as such, the very formulation of the question is incorrect. When proving the absence of something, one can give arguments that relate only to some particular case, but do not refute the existence of this object as such. A simple example: in order to make sure that there is not a rabbit hiding in the magician’s hat, all you have to do is look into it. But even if he is not there, this will not mean that rabbits do not exist in the world at all. Thus, attempts to prove the non-existence of God are unacceptable for atheists, since, in their opinion, they are absurd.
Moral prerequisites for choice
But in addition, the irreconcilable position of atheists is often determined by their moral choice. As life shows, the most zealous of them are people who were once in close contact with religion, but for one reason or another not only broke with it, but also became its opponents. There can be many such reasons, and their consideration is beyond the scope of this article.
The only important thing is that these people, unlike the followers of Kant and Hume, deliberately refuse to give their opponents the opportunity to even speculate about the proof of the existence of God. This is, in essence, the main contradiction between agnostics and atheists. The difference between their worldviews becomes clear from the fact that representatives of one of these teachings adhere to materialistic views, while their opponents are staunch supporters of the divine creation of the world.
Who is an atheist?
The Greek word "atheos" - atheist - has long been part of everyday life. "A" stands for "without" and "theos" stands for "God." Literally, atheist means “without God .
In ancient Greece, the word meant a person who renounces the Gods by denying their existence. In the modern world, the meaning of this word has not changed.
An atheist is a person who is convinced that God or Gods do not exist . This belief does not concern one specific religion, but captures all existing beliefs and denies them.
The worldview of an atheist denies not only the very essence of the Gods , but also the existence of everything supernatural. It is called atheism and is based on the fact that there is no God, no Devil, no angels, no demons, no spirits and nothing mystical.
