Strong atheism is a term generally used to describe atheists who accept as true the proposition, "gods do not exist". Weak atheism refers to any type of non-theism which falls short of this standard. Because of flexibility in the term "god", it is understood that a person could be a strong atheist in terms of certain portrayals of gods, while remaining a weak atheist in terms of others. The term "weak atheism" is sometimes used interchangeably with "agnosticism." For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ... Theism is the belief in the existence of one or more gods or deities. ...

Since many self-described agnostics specifically distinguish their stance from that of atheists, yet would also fit the general definition of "weak atheism," the validity of this categorisation is disputed^[1]. Another problem is whether "strong" atheists must consider themselves able to prove authoritatively that a god does not exist, or rather, if they must only disbelieve in such a god in order to qualify. Prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins avoid the strong/weak distinction. In The God Delusion Dawkins describes people for whom the probablity of the existence of God is between "very high" and "very low" as "agnostic" and reserves the term "strong atheist" for "I know there is no God". He categorises himself as a "de facto atheist" but not a "Strong Atheist" ^[2] Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning without, and Gnosticism or gnosis, meaning knowledge) means unknowable, and is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities—is unknown or, depending on the form of... Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ... The God Delusion is a non-fiction book by British ethologist Richard Dawkins, Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ...

History

The strong and weak names did not come into common usage until the early 1990s, their popularization assisted by their common usage in the alt.atheism Usenet group at the time. While the terms themselves are relatively recent, the concepts they represent have been in use for some time. In earlier philosophical publications, the terms negative atheism and positive atheism were more common; these terms were used by Antony Flew in 1972, although Jacques Maritain used the phrases in a similar, but strictly Catholic apologist, context as early as 1949.^[3] alt. ... Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ... Antony Flew. ... Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (November 18, 1882 – April 28, 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. ...

Atheists and agnostics generally suggest that when proposing a theory - such as that a god or gods exist(s) - the burden of proof is on the proposer^[4][5]. That is, for example, someone who proposes a god has the burden to prove that there is one. It does not fall upon others to prove that there is not one. Christian and other Theist philosophers generally suggest that the notion of proof implicit in this view is simplistic, and that most of the basic beliefs that people have about the world (such as the existence of other minds, or the existence of the past^[6]) cannot be "proven" in the face of determined scepticism, but are nevertheless rational to hold.^[7] In the common law, burden of proof is the obligation to prove allegations which are presented in a legal action. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Theism is the belief in one or more gods or goddesses. ...

See also

• Ignosticism

Ignosticism (often confused with apathetic agnosticism or apatheism) is the view that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because it has no verifiable (or testable) consequences and should therefore be ignored. ...

References

1. ^ Anthony Kenny What I Believe OUP 2006
2. ^ The God Delusion pp50-51
3. ^ Maritain, Jacques (July 1949). "On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism". The Review of Politics 11 (3): 267-280. 
4. ^ Richard Dawkins The God Delusion
5. ^ Anthony Kenny in What I believe suggests that the "default" position is Agnosticism rather than Atheism or Theism
6. ^ See eg Alvin Plantinga esp his God and other Minds
7. ^ see eg Keith Ward's Is Religion Dangerous?