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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== Greek ''agnōstos'' unknown, unknowable, from ''a''- + ''gnōstos'' known, fr...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Agnosticism_by_xelptic-d2zxtd7.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
[[Greek]] ''agnōstos'' [[unknown]], unknowable, from ''a''- + ''gnōstos'' known, from ''gignōskein'' to know — more at [[know]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1869]
(Greek: ἀ- ''a''-, without + γνῶσις ''gnōsis'', knowledge) was used by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley] in a [[speech]] at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1876 to [[describe]] his [[philosophy]] which [[rejects]] all claims of [[spiritual]] or [[mystical]] [[knowledge]]. Early [[Christian]] church [[leaders]] used the Greek word ''gnosis'' (knowledge) to describe "[[spiritual]] [[knowledge]]." Agnosticism is not to be [[confused]] with religious views opposing the [[ancient]] religious [[movement]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism Gnosticism] in particular; Huxley used the term in a broader, more [[abstract]] sense. Huxley identified agnosticism not as a [[creed]] but rather as a [[method]] of [[skeptical]], [[evidence]]-based [[inquiry]].
In recent years, [[scientific]] [[literature]] dealing with neuroscience and [[psychology]] has used the [[word]] to mean "not knowable". In technical and marketing literature, agnostic often has a meaning close to "[[independent]]"—for example, "platform agnostic" or "hardware agnostic."
==Definitions==
*1: a [[person]] who holds the view that any [[ultimate]] [[reality]] (as [[God]]) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not [[committed]] to believing in either the [[existence]] or the nonexistence of [[God]] or a god
*2: a [[person]] who is unwilling to [[commit]] to an [[opinion]] about something <[[political]] agnostics>
==Description==
'''Agnosticism''' is the view that the [[truth]] [[value]] of certain claims—especially claims about the [[existence]] or non-existence of any [[deity]], but also other religious and [[metaphysical]] claims—is unknown or unknowable. Agnosticism can be [[defined]] in various ways, and is sometimes used to indicate [[doubt]] or a [[skeptical]] approach to [[questions]]. In some senses, agnosticism is a stance about the [[difference]] between [[belief]] and [[knowledge]], rather than about any specific claim or belief. In the popular sense, an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves there is a [[God]], whereas an [[atheist]] disbelieves there is a God. In the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human [[reason]] is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to [[justify]] [[knowledge]] whether God exists or does not. Within agnosticism there are agnostic [[atheists]] (who do not believe any [[deity]] exists, but do not deny it as a [[possibility]]) and agnostic theists (who believe a God exists but do not claim to know that).
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley], an English biologist, coined the word agnostic in 1869. However, earlier [[thinkers]] and written works have promoted agnostic [[points of view]]. They include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protagoras Protagoras], a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasadiya_Sukta Nasadiya Sukta] creation myth in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rig_Veda Rig Veda], an ancient [[Sanskrit]] text. Since Huxley coined the term, many other thinkers have written extensively about agnosticism.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism]
[[Category: Religion]]
==Origin==
[[Greek]] ''agnōstos'' [[unknown]], unknowable, from ''a''- + ''gnōstos'' known, from ''gignōskein'' to know — more at [[know]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1869]
(Greek: ἀ- ''a''-, without + γνῶσις ''gnōsis'', knowledge) was used by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley] in a [[speech]] at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1876 to [[describe]] his [[philosophy]] which [[rejects]] all claims of [[spiritual]] or [[mystical]] [[knowledge]]. Early [[Christian]] church [[leaders]] used the Greek word ''gnosis'' (knowledge) to describe "[[spiritual]] [[knowledge]]." Agnosticism is not to be [[confused]] with religious views opposing the [[ancient]] religious [[movement]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism Gnosticism] in particular; Huxley used the term in a broader, more [[abstract]] sense. Huxley identified agnosticism not as a [[creed]] but rather as a [[method]] of [[skeptical]], [[evidence]]-based [[inquiry]].
In recent years, [[scientific]] [[literature]] dealing with neuroscience and [[psychology]] has used the [[word]] to mean "not knowable". In technical and marketing literature, agnostic often has a meaning close to "[[independent]]"—for example, "platform agnostic" or "hardware agnostic."
==Definitions==
*1: a [[person]] who holds the view that any [[ultimate]] [[reality]] (as [[God]]) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not [[committed]] to believing in either the [[existence]] or the nonexistence of [[God]] or a god
*2: a [[person]] who is unwilling to [[commit]] to an [[opinion]] about something <[[political]] agnostics>
==Description==
'''Agnosticism''' is the view that the [[truth]] [[value]] of certain claims—especially claims about the [[existence]] or non-existence of any [[deity]], but also other religious and [[metaphysical]] claims—is unknown or unknowable. Agnosticism can be [[defined]] in various ways, and is sometimes used to indicate [[doubt]] or a [[skeptical]] approach to [[questions]]. In some senses, agnosticism is a stance about the [[difference]] between [[belief]] and [[knowledge]], rather than about any specific claim or belief. In the popular sense, an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves there is a [[God]], whereas an [[atheist]] disbelieves there is a God. In the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human [[reason]] is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to [[justify]] [[knowledge]] whether God exists or does not. Within agnosticism there are agnostic [[atheists]] (who do not believe any [[deity]] exists, but do not deny it as a [[possibility]]) and agnostic theists (who believe a God exists but do not claim to know that).
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley], an English biologist, coined the word agnostic in 1869. However, earlier [[thinkers]] and written works have promoted agnostic [[points of view]]. They include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protagoras Protagoras], a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasadiya_Sukta Nasadiya Sukta] creation myth in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rig_Veda Rig Veda], an ancient [[Sanskrit]] text. Since Huxley coined the term, many other thinkers have written extensively about agnosticism.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism]
[[Category: Religion]]
