Quote:
Originally Posted by Janszoon
No it isn't. Agnosticism and atheism describe views on two different things. The former describes a viewpoint on the nature of knowledge while the later describes a viewpoint on the existence of a god or gods. You can most definitely be both.
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No, and for the very reasons ou point out. Atheism as a concept points to the
lack of belief in deity, nothing less, nothing more, although its common extension is a viewpoint of knowledge, but not necessarily and not by definition. Agnosticism is the viewpoint where one believe we cannot know wether or not there is a deity, or to put it more crassly, a position where one avoids making a decision at all, although in the process you end up in a theist position since the possibility of a higher deity is by no means rejected. Thus, the two concepts are incompatible, because the very moment where one, even on a theroetical basis, takes a stand even for the mere possibility of a higher deity, one is rejecting the concept of atheism.