agnosticism

[ ag-nos-tuh-siz-uhm ]

noun

1. the belief that the answers to the basic questions of existence, such as the nature of the ultimate cause and whether or not there is a supreme being, are unknown or unknowable.
2. an intellectual doctrine or attitude affirming the uncertainty of all claims to ultimate knowledge.
3. an attitude or view that does not conform to either of two opposing positions on a topic.

agnosticism

1. A denial of knowledge about whether there is or is not a God. An agnostic insists that it is impossible to prove that there is no God and impossible to prove that there is one. ( Compare atheism .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of agnosticism¹

First recorded in 1870–75; agnostic ( def ) + -ism ( def )

Example Sentences

But he eventually settled into an uneasy agnosticism, spent some time as an “angry atheist,” and then, many years later, in 2019, converted to Catholicism.

From Slate

Lesley Hazleton, a British-born, secular Jewish psychologist turned journalist and author, whose curiosity about faith and religion led her to write biographies of Muhammad, Mary and Jezebel and examine her own passions in books about agnosticism and automobiles, died on April 29 at her home, a houseboat in Seattle.

From New York Times

Tamás Matura, a China expert and associate professor at Corvinus University in Budapest, said that Hungary’s hosting of major Chinese investments and production sites — and its agnosticism on doing business with countries with spotty democratic and human rights records — has opened a crucial door to China within the EU trading bloc.

From Seattle Times

The era of model agnosticism is really here.

From Slate

Each brick of evidence must be placed on top of another, each layer of mortar mixed through the arguments, scepticism and agnosticism of many, many scientists.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• ambiguity
• apprehension
• confusion
• difficulty
• disbelief
• distrust
• fear
• hesitation
• misgiving
• mistrust
• problem
• qualm
• reluctance
• skepticism
• suspense
• suspicion
• uncertainty