Richard Dawkins is interviewed and admits that he cannot be sure that God doesn't exist.
He argues that on a scale of 1 that God exists to a 7 that God doesn't exist, he is a 6. It is short clip but informative.
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He's getting soft in his old age.
ReplyDeleteThis is not news. He states this clearly in "The God Delusion," and has repeated it often in speeches and debates.
ReplyDeleteThis is not news. He stated this position clearly in "The God Delusion," and reiterates it often when speaking and debating.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's still surprising because Dawkins is a self-professed atheist, even though he's clearly agnostic.
ReplyDeleteI guess I am surprised that he positions himself as an atheist, since in order to be intellectually honest, he has to be agnostic. True atheism, like true belief in a higher power, requires faith.
ReplyDeleteNo, atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god or gods. It is not a position of certainty that there is no god. It does not take 'faith' to be an atheist any more than it takes 'faith' to not believe that bigfoot exists. Almost all prominent atheists are very clear on the point that they are not claiming to be 100% certain that God doesn't exist, just that they see no compelling reason to think that he does.
ReplyDeleteNo, atheism is simply the lack of belief in a god or gods. It is not a position of certainty that there is no god. It does not take 'faith' to be an atheist any more than it takes 'faith' to not believe that bigfoot exists. Almost all prominent atheists are very clear on the point that they are not claiming to be 100% certain that God doesn't exist, just that they see no compelling reason to think that he does.
ReplyDeleteAgnostic isn't a mid point between theist and atheist. "Agnostic" is a label regarding whether something is believed to be knowable. A gnostic theist believes that God exists, and believes that God's existence is knowable with certainty. An agnostic theist believes that God exists, but would not claim absolute certainty. An agnostic atheist (which most atheists describe them selves as) doesn't believe in God, but would not claim certainty that he doesn't exist. A gnostic atheist (of which I have only heard of one) would disbelieve in God, and be certain of it.
'True' atheism is simply the lack of a belief.
(I apologize if this is a double post, It's sometimes hard to tell if I got the catpcha right and the comment went through. If so, please delete the first one)
Derick, How does this differ from agnosticism?
ReplyDeleteYou answered my question in the second post. Thanks. A gnostic theist does not know for certain that God exists. A gnostic theist simply accepts on faith that God does exist. I have never come across the term “agnostic theist” since my understanding of agnostic is that they do not know whether or not God exists and are "ag" nostic in the sense that it is not a life's work to determine this. Maybe i have my definitions screwed up but that is how I have always understood the terms to mean.
ReplyDeleteA gnostic theist is one who says "God exists, and I know this with certainty," While an agnostic theist is one who says: "I believe God exists, but I don't think his existence is provable/knowable one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteThe distinction between gnostic/agnostic is a distinction between whether the knowledge is possible/impossible, not whether the belief is possible/impossible.
Most people (including myself, for a long time) use 'agnostic' to mean "I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other, when in fact it can mean "I have an opinion, but I don't think one could know for sure, even in principle"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic_theism