Magnetic Synthesizer Posted August 23, 2015 Posted August 23, 2015 Is agnosticism limited to a position on god's existence? or is god just an exemple of what someone can be agnostic about. In terms of language and grammar.
WasatchMan Posted August 23, 2015 Posted August 23, 2015 Technically "agnostic" applies to your position on god's existence. People have just taken the concept and applied it to other positions on other topics (i.e. I am agnostic about "x"). This seems to be to be a pretty legitimate form of language evolution in that the utility of one concept has been broadened so it's scope provides utility in a more universal form.
wdiaz03 Posted August 23, 2015 Posted August 23, 2015 In an article on Skeptic Magazine by Shawn Dawson the term agnosticism is attributed to T. H. Huxley: "Agnosticism is not a creed but a method, the essence of which lies in the vigorous application of a single principle. Positively, the principle may be expressed as in matters of intellect, follow your reason as far as it can take you without other considerations. And negatively, in matters of the intellect, do not pretend that matters are certain that are not demonstrated or demonstrable. It is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty" -- "Agnosticism", 1889 For the purpose of his article he calls this "method" wide agnosticism which is no different than being a skeptic. When he applies agnosticism to the question of god's existence he calls is narrow agnosticism. To answer your questions one can be agnostic about many things including the question of the existence of a god.
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