AGNOSTICISM

From Philosopedia

AGNOSTICISM

Some hold that the agnostic is committed to believing in neither the existence nor non-existence of god, God, or supernatural entities.

Others hold that the agnostic finds that any ultimate reality–God, gods, supernatural existences–is unknown and unknowable.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994),

• Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God’s existence, declaring it impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny. Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism.

T. H. Huxley, who coined the word in 1869, used it to indicate that, while his contemporaries seemed to have definite knowledge (gnosis), positive or negative, about ultimate realities and might be described as Gnostics, he had no such knowledge. Following the principles of Hume and Kant, Huxley held that the mind cannot attain to any truth beyond the phenomenal universe or the world of experience. Hence the original meaning is that man cannot know the truth about God and immortality, and must leave the issues open.

As Paul Edwards has pointed out, the position Huxley called “agnosticism” was much older and had usually gone under the name of “skepticism.” Individuals when asked if God exists often respond they are agnostic, adding that believers think He does. Individuals when asked if Pink Elephants exist could respond they are agnostic, adding that many drunkards believe They do. Asked why They is capitalized, they retort, “Why is God capitalized?”

{CE; Paul Edwards, Free Inquiry, Fall 1998; RE}

Celebrity Agnostics

At the end of 1999, according to the Internet homepage for Celebrity Atheists and Agnostics, the following might be atheists but, tentatively and without further documentation, are listed as agnostics:

Margaret Atwood, novelist;

Richard Avedon, photographer;

George Clooney, actor;

Alan Dershowitz, lawyer;

Phyllis Diller, actress and comedian;

David Duchovny, actor;

Carrie Fisher, actress;

Candace Gingrich, gay rights activist;

Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the USSR;

Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist;

Matt Groening, cartoonist and producer of “The Simpsons”;

Bob Guccione, publisher;

Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist;

Robert Heilbroner, economist;

Sir Edmund Hillary;

John Irving, novelist;

Molly Ivins, journalist;

Robert Jastrow, astrophysicist;

Bill Joel, recording artist;

Jack Kevorkian, right-to-dieactivist;

Larry King, television talk host;

Barry Manilow, recording artist;

Henry Morgentaler, Canadian abortion rights activist;

Iris Murdoch, British philosopher;

John Passmore, Australian philosopher;

Sean Penn, actor-director;

W. V. Quine, philosopher;

Geraldo Rivera, television show host;

Andy Rooney, television commentator;

Neil Simon, playwright;

Rod Steiger, actor;

Howard Stern, radio personality;

Uma Thurman, actress;

Ted Turner, media mogul;

Gene Wilder, actor;

Bruce Willis, actor;

Edward O. Wilson, entomologist;

Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.