Illogical Atheism: A Comprehensive Response to the Contemporary Freethinker from a Lapsed Agnostic by Jinn Bo

Author:Jinn, Bo [Jinn, Bo]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sattwa Publishing
Published: 2013-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

iii. The ‘Non-Existence’ of Agnosticism

“Is it true God exists? Truth is a disposition; one of being true to someone or something. One cannot believe in nothing, and thus avoid the belief altogether, simply because one cannot have no disposition toward the world, that being in itself a disposition.”[155]

- Iain McGilchrist

Throughout this discourse we have referred to the “non-existence of agnosticism”. We shall now elucidate this notion with greater clarity. Obviously, by the “non-existence” of agnosticism I do not mean to express some obstinate denial of the fact that there exist people in the world who self-identify as agnostics. We are here talking about a particular epistemic state of mind with regard to belief in God that the classic definition of ‘agnosticism’ assumes.

The great Ludwig Wittgenstein once said that philosophy is just a byproduct of misunderstanding language. I think this observation could not fit any more perfectly with anything else than it does with the definitional Pandora’s box opened by the new atheist movement, except perhaps Thomas Henry Huxley’s coining of the word ‘agnostic’ back in 1869. Since then, agnosticism has become somewhat of a household name in the 21st century western world, seeking to isolate itself from all baggage of alignment with a particular group. Agnosticism, properly defined, is the ‘withholding of belief’ in God; that is to say that one simply does not know. The problem with this position is instantly recognizable: When asked the question; “do you believe in God?”, the appropriate answer could not possibly be “I do not know”, unless we are dealing with someone who has either simply never considered the question, or is not aware of the only two appropriate answers; yes or no. And that really does lie at the heart of the whole agnostic position. It is either a state of complete confusion or an epistemic vacuum- insanity or ignorance.

If the average Mursi tribesman in Ethiopia were to be asked whether or not he believed in the existence of bosons or electrons, his answer would rightly be “I do not know”. Similarly if a severely deranged patient in a mental institution were to be asked whether or not he believed in the existence of himself, the most appropriate answer one should expect on behalf of such person is simply that “he does not know”. In the first instance ‘not knowing’ is the result of a complete ignorance of what bosons and electrons even are. In the second instance, it is the result of unreliable rational faculties. Ergo, anybody who seriously adheres to the position of the agnostic simply does not know what they are talking about.

Assuming that one is both sane and understands what is meant by the word “God” (as most people do) then there is no conceivable manner in which one may reason their way to the empty state of non-belief that agnosticism supposes. Please note that we are using the term ‘non-belief’ in its actual sense of “not believing either way” and not in the modern-day atheist perspective as the negation of a particular proposition.

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