The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume Atheism vs Agnosticism What’s the difference? A variety of categories have been proposed to try to distinguish the different forms of atheism It was suggested that the man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a something he is not familiar with The fact that a child does not believe in God because he has never heard of God qualifies him as an atheist Hence, the term refers to “the absence of theistic belief, without a conscious rejection of it.” refers to the more common definition of conscious disbelief Philosophers such as Antony Flew, Michael Martin, and William L Rowe have contrasted with Positive atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods not exist Negative atheism includes all other forms of nontheism According to this categorization, anyone who is not a theist is either a weak or a strong atheist Under this demarcation of atheism, most agnostics qualify as negative atheists or implicit atheists is a recent concept introduced by Thomas Huxley, the famous friend and advocate of Darwin, to describe his own concerns about knowledge and belief It is derived from the Greek roots (without) and (knowledge) Most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism or requiring an equal conviction The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of gods is sometimes seen as indication that atheism also requires a leap of faith Agnostics are supposedly people who claim to be undecided about religious questions or possibly uninterested in them They are not sure or noncommittal; they not have enough information, and hypothetically, they are waiting, actively or passively, for some basis on which to settle the two claims of theism versus atheism Persons who declare themselves to be agnostics allegedly say, “I don’t know.” Many people who claim they are agnostic discount the idea that they are also an atheist It is common to believe that agnosticism is a more “reasonable” position while atheism is more “dogmatic.” ~ 393 ~