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Absolutely not. Atheism is about belief, agnosticism is about knowledge. They are complementary. You can be atheist/agnostic, theist/agnostic, atheist/gnosti

Absolutely not. Atheism is about belief, agnosticism is about knowledge. They are complementary. You can be atheist/agnostic, theist/agnostic, atheist/gnostic, theist/gnostic. It's a matrix. Also there are two flavors of atheism: those that believe there is no god (a minority in my opinion, and that position requires a burden of proof). And there are atheists who simply reject the claim that there is a god. They say there might be a god, or maybe not, but that people who claim there is a god have not presented enough evidence for that claim to be accepted. If I look at a grass field and tell you there is an even number of blades of grass in that field, you are not going to accept my claim. Does that mean you think that number is odd? No. You're just saying I have not provided evidence for my claim, and therefore, you do not accept it. But you are not taking any position yourself. That's atheism.

waserwill 8y ago
This is a common set of colloquial definitions; nothing wrong with that. Philosophical writing, particularly with regards to theology, refers to atheism as the belief that there is no God [1]. As such, it is easy to interpret the article as saying: "the belief in no God [rather than the lack of belief in God] is inconsistent with the scientific method." 1. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/
DanBC 8y ago
This doesn't match any dictionary I have. Atheism: belief there is no god. Agnosticism: we don't, we can't, know whether a god exists or not. > They say there might be a god, or maybe not, This by definition is not atheism, it's agnosticism.
- mindcrime 8y ago
  Not a dictionary, but how about an encyclopedia? Wikipedia shows that there is a distinction within the group of people who can be called "atheist", regarding how strong/affirmative a claim they are making. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism
- hota_mazi 8y ago
  Again, you are bundling together the concepts of belief and knowledge. Knowledge is a subset of belief. Both are defined by different words: (a)theism is about belief, (a)gnosticism is about knowledge. The first dictionary hit I get on atheism matches my claim: "disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods."
- gotocake 8y ago
  The OED and M-W both disagree with whichever dictionary you’re using. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism You also seem to be strafing your dictionary claim and then ignoring anyone who shows that you’re incorrect. That’s a poor way to debate.
groestl 8y ago
There is a difference between rejecting a claim and not accepting a claim, yet you use both expressions to describe the position of an atheist. Which one is it?

waserwill 8y ago

This is a common set of colloquial definitions; nothing wrong with that. Philosophical writing, particularly with regards to theology, refers to atheism as the belief that there is no God [1]. As such, it is easy to interpret the article as saying: "the belief in no God [rather than the lack of belief in God] is inconsistent with the scientific method." 1. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/

DanBC 8y ago

This doesn't match any dictionary I have. Atheism: belief there is no god. Agnosticism: we don't, we can't, know whether a god exists or not. > They say there might be a god, or maybe not, This by definition is not atheism, it's agnosticism.

mindcrime 8y ago
Not a dictionary, but how about an encyclopedia? Wikipedia shows that there is a distinction within the group of people who can be called "atheist", regarding how strong/affirmative a claim they are making. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism
hota_mazi 8y ago
Again, you are bundling together the concepts of belief and knowledge. Knowledge is a subset of belief. Both are defined by different words: (a)theism is about belief, (a)gnosticism is about knowledge. The first dictionary hit I get on atheism matches my claim: "disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods."
gotocake 8y ago
The OED and M-W both disagree with whichever dictionary you’re using. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/atheism You also seem to be strafing your dictionary claim and then ignoring anyone who shows that you’re incorrect. That’s a poor way to debate.

groestl 8y ago

There is a difference between rejecting a claim and not accepting a claim, yet you use both expressions to describe the position of an atheist. Which one is it?