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Webster 1913 Edition
Agnosticism
Ag-nos′ti-cism
,Noun.
That doctrine which, professing ignorance, neither asserts nor denies.
Specifically:
(Theol.)
The doctrine that the existence of a personal Deity, an unseen world, etc., can be neither proved nor disproved, because of the necessary limits of the human mind (as sometimes charged upon Hamilton and Mansel), or because of the insufficiency of the evidence furnished by physical and physical data, to warrant a positive conclusion (as taught by the school of Herbert Spencer); – opposed alike dogmatic skepticism and to dogmatic theism.
Definition 2024
agnosticism
agnosticism
English
Noun
agnosticism (uncountable)
- The view that absolute truth or ultimate certainty is unattainable, especially regarding knowledge not based on experience or perceivable phenomena.
- The view that the existence of God or of all deities is unknown, unknowable, unproven, or unprovable.
- Doubt, uncertainty, or scepticism regarding the existence of a god or gods.
- 1956, January 31st: Alan Alexander Milne; quoted in:
- 1988: James B. Simpson, Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations, № 4,393 (Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0395430852)
- The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief — call it what you will — than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counterattractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course.
- (by extension) Doubt, uncertainty, or scepticism regarding any subject of dispute.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Related terms
Related terms
Translations
view that the existence of a God or gods is unknown, unknowable, unproven, or unprovable
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See also
- Appendix:Glossary of philosophical isms
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowing from French agnosticisme.
Noun
agnosticism n (uncountable)
Declension
declension of agnosticism (singular only)
| singular | ||
|---|---|---|
| n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
| nominative/accusative | (un) agnosticism | agnosticismul |
| genitive/dative | (unui) agnosticism | agnosticismului |
| vocative | agnosticismule | |
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aɡnɔstɪsˈɪsm/
Noun
agnosticism c
Declension
| Inflection of agnosticism | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | agnosticism | agnosticismen | agnosticismer | agnosticismerna |
| Genitive | agnosticisms | agnosticismens | agnosticismers | agnosticismernas |