The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. As Huxley explains it, agnosticism is not about knowledge at all, because nobody can convince the world that he knows there is a god without producing logically satisfactory evidence of a god. According to Huxley, agnostics are simply those who deny and repudiate any doctrine that there are propositions people ought to believe without logically satisfactory evidence [1]. Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley F.R.S. (May 4, 1825 – June 29, 1895) was a British biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his defence of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
This is one of the main issuses that still remain concerning agnosticism. The issue is whether there is anything distinctive in being agnostic. When it comes right down to the facts of the matter theists in general do not generally say that they know that a god exists, only that they believe there might be one, and atheists in general do not say they know there is no god, only that they do not believe there might be one. And, as Huxley points out in "Agnosticism and Christianity" [2], agnosticism, in essence, is not really about knowledge at all, since nobody knows, it is about the denial and repudiation of any doctrine that there are propositions people ought to believe without logically satisfactory evidence.
Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth values of certain claims—particularly metaphysical claims and theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or deities—are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent, and therefore, (some agnostics may go as far to say) irrelevant to life.
Agnosticism is not to be confused with a view specifically opposing the doctrine of gnosis and Gnosticism—these are religious concepts that are not generally related to agnosticism.
Agnostic views are as old as philosophical skepticism, but the terms agnostic and agnosticism were created by Huxley to sum up his thoughts on contemporary developments of metaphysics about the "unconditioned" (Hamilton) and the "unknowable" (Herbert Spencer).
The terms agnosticism and agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869 to describe the philosophical and theological view that the truth of the unexistence or existence of God, immortality, and the like are inherently unknowable.
Agnosticism is not to be confused with a view specifically opposing the doctrine of gnosis and Gnosticism - these are religious concepts that are not directly related to agnosticism.
Huxley'sagnosticism is believed to be a natural consequence of the intellectual and philosophical conditions of the 1860s, when clerical intolerance was trying to suppress scientific discoveries which appeared to clash with a literal reading of the Book of Genesis and other established christian doctrines.
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