The Difference Between Atheists & Agnostics
Fifteen percent of Americans have no religious preference, according to a 2008 American Religious Identification Survey. Of the non-religious, more than 3.5 million self-identify as either atheists or agnostics---almost double the number of people who identified with those terms in 2001. Despite Americans' increasing willingness to consider themselves either atheist or agnostic, a great deal of disagreement exists over exactly how to distinguish the two terms. However, by focusing on the dictionary definitions of the two words, some fundamental differences between them become apparent.
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Definitions
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Atheists and agnostics overlap, but the meanings of the two terms differ. The word "atheist" comes from the Greek "atheos," which means "without a belief in god." Some atheists, called "strong atheists," actively believe that a particular god or gods do not exist. Other "weak atheists" simply lack belief in any god's existence. The term "agnosticism," coined by Thomas Huxley in 1869, comes from the Greek "agnosis," which means "without knowledge." This philosophical stance holds that the existence of god is impossible to determine by reason.
Belief in God
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Atheists by definition lack a belief in god, but belief in god and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. No one can be "just" an agnostic. A person is either an agnostic atheist, choosing not to believe in god because reason can't support that belief, or an agnostic theist, choosing to believe in god despite the inability to prove that god exists. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard demonstrated the agnostic theist position. He argued that reason has no place in religious belief. Instead, believers need to take a "leap of faith" and accept god's existence without justification or proof.
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Positive Belief
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While many atheists hold specific beliefs, such as the belief that a particular god or gods do not exist, at its most basic level, atheism is the absence of a belief. Atheism doesn't require the adoption of any positive belief. People may be atheists because they consider the question unimportant and have put no thought into it. Even babies can be considered atheists because they lack the capacity to understand the concept of god or to decide to believe in god's existence. Agnosticism, however, requires a positive belief: the belief that it is impossible to determine whether god exists.
Social Perception
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The word "atheist" carries a more negative connotation than "agnostic," mostly due to a misunderstanding of the term. Some people assume all atheists claim to know for certain that no god-like entity of any sort exists---an impossible belief to support as no one possesses absolute knowledge about the universe. Others think atheists oppose those who believe in god, even though lack of religious belief doesn't require being anti-religion any more than lack of belief in Santa Claus implies a person is anti-Santa Claus. The term "agnostic" has more social acceptance because in common usage, people interpret it to mean one is "undecided" about god and remains open-minded about god's existence.
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References
- Trinity College; American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS 2008); Barry A. Kosmin, et al.; March 2009
- Secular Web; An Introduction to Atheism; Mathew; 1997
- Atheism: What is Agnosticism?
- ReligiousTolerance.org: Agnostics and Agnosticism
- Happy Heretic; All Babies Are Atheists; Judith Hayes; July 2004
- Happy Heretic; Pistols at Dawn? Agnosticism Revisited; Judith Hayes; July 2001
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