One word substitution

Question

one  who not believe in God

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

Anonymousone who not believe in ***

One who doesn't believe in ***.

Atheist

Avangi · Answer

Anonymousone who not believe in ***

Your definition also applies to an agnostic. [:^)] "a thinker who disclaims any knowledge of ***" (AmHtg)

Doesn't an atheist believe that there isno ***?

Khoff · Answer

An atheist believes that there is no ***.  An agnostic believes that we have no way of knowing for sure if there is a *** or not.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Did you hear about the dyslectic atheist who believed there was no Dog?

Clive

Avangi · Answer

If you'll forgive me for practicing my oneupsmanship, my daughter claimed he was an insomniac dyslectic agnostic, who lay awake all night wondering if there was a Dog.  (Not my daughter.)[bah]

BarbaraPA · Answer

Then there was the dyslectic man who walked into a bra...

But seriously: Tell me the difference between not believing in *** and believing there is no ***? I don't see the difference.

(I've always understood agnostic to mean you're not convinced one way or the other. An agnostic sits on the fence; the atheist has chosen a side.)

Avangi · Answer

Hi, GG.
I"m no philosopher. But I should think if you ask an agnostic, "Does *** exist?," he must reply, "I don't know."
If you ask him, "Do you believe that *** exists?" - Yes or No?," he must reply, "No."

If he replies, "I don't know what I believe," then he certainly can't say that he believes that *** exists or doesn't exist.

If you ask him, "Do you believe that *** does not exist?," and he replies "Yes," then he's an Atheist.

CalifJim · Answer

Grammar GeekI've always understood agnostic to mean you're not convinced one way or the other. An agnostic sits on the fence; the atheist has chosen a side.

That is the popular view that 95% of people generally accept.

The view from philosophy (the other 5%) comes from the fact that a - gnostic means not - knowable, so the (philosophical) agnostic holds that the question of whether there is a *** cannot, in principle, have an answer. It's simply a matter of logic, not faith. Within this view, people who answer "I don't know" or "I'm not sure" are not agnostics, because not knowing or not being certain implies there may be a way to know or a way to be certain, say, eventually, or under some circumstances. In this view, these people are simply indecisive, not agnostic.

Sometimes you have to listen in on a conversation on this topic a little while before you catch on to which definition they're using.

The believer (or theist), of course, believes that there is an answer to the big question, and that the answer is "Yes".

The atheist, on the other hand, believes that there is an answer, and that the answer is "No".

The way I see it, either the believer or the atheist can simultaneously be agnostic in the philosophical sense. For example, you may grant that the answer is unknowable (logically), and yet answer "Yes" or "No" as a matter of faith rather than of logic.

But that's just my view. Don't go by me. I'm an atheist who believes everybody goes to heaven when they die!

CJ

MrPernickety · Answer

Avangi[]Your definition also applies to an agnostic. "a thinker who disclaims any knowledge of ***" (AmHtg)

Doesn't an atheist believe that there is no ***?

Stephen Colbert said that agnostics are just atheists without *****.

Avangi · Answer

I'll drink to that!  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/22.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/22.gif' alt='Emotion: beer'/>

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