agnosticism
agnosticism Lexical Profile
agnosticism Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The philosophical or religious view that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or inherently unknowable.
"His philosophical journey led him to embrace agnosticism, concluding that human reason is currently incapable of proving or disproving the existence of a higher power."
A noncommittal attitude or refusal to take a definitive stance on a non-religious issue, policy, or debate due to insufficient evidence.
"The committee maintained a posture of strict agnosticism regarding which software vendor to select until all performance benchmarks were verified."
Word Nuance & Usage
Agnosticism is often confused with atheism; while atheism is the rejection or absence of belief in deities, agnosticism is the epistemological view that the existence of God or the ultimate nature of reality is unknown or unknowable.
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1869 by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley from Ancient Greek agnostos ('unknown, unknowable'), formed from a- ('not') and gnostos ('known'), to contrast with the early Christian concept of gnosis ('spiritual knowledge').