Atheism is not Agnosticism

I’ve talked about this before, but I tweeted about it again today. So if you want a brief riposte (though aren’t ripostes, by definition, brief?) here it is:

Online atheists regularly say atheism is not belief in the non-existence of God but merely nonbelief in the existence of God. By that logic, theism is not belief in the existence of God but merely nonbelief in the non-existence of God. Since one may simultaneously have nonbelief in the existence of God and nonbelief in the nonexistence of God, one may simultaneously be an atheist and theist. That absurd conclusion is avoided if we return to the commonsense view that atheism = belief in the non-existence of God.

The issue, in short, is following through the logic of turning a positive affirmation position into a withholding position. If atheism becomes agnosticism about theism, then theism can become agnosticism about atheism.

The post Atheism is not Agnosticism appeared first on Randal Rauser.