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by Nick Spencer - guardian.co.uk
Thanks to Crapsquire for the link.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/atheism-agnosticism-thomas-huxley
The question: What is agnosticism?
When Thomas Huxley coined the term "agnostic" in 1869 he did it to make a point.
A member of the "Metaphysical Society", a monthly discussion group of liberal churchmen, deists, Unitarians, positivists and the occasional atheist, Huxley found himself confronted with people who "were quite sure they had attained a certain 'gnosis,' – [who] had, more or less successfully, solved the problem of existence."
Huxley was "quite sure" that he had not reached any such resolution and, indeed, "had a pretty strong conviction that the problem was insoluble." Looking for a term that would free him from such certainties – and from accusations of atheism and materialism that were regularly, if inaccurately, levelled at him – he coined the word agnostic.
Huxley's neologism was not some arbitrary midway point between theism and atheism, as it has subsequently been treated. The "-theism" suffix is deliberately absent.
...
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/atheism-agnosticism-thomas-huxley
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/atheism-agnosticism-thomas-huxley
The question: What is agnosticism?
When Thomas Huxley coined the term "agnostic" in 1869 he did it to make a point.
A member of the "Metaphysical Society", a monthly discussion group of liberal churchmen, deists, Unitarians, positivists and the occasional atheist, Huxley found himself confronted with people who "were quite sure they had attained a certain 'gnosis,' – [who] had, more or less successfully, solved the problem of existence."
Huxley was "quite sure" that he had not reached any such resolution and, indeed, "had a pretty strong conviction that the problem was insoluble." Looking for a term that would free him from such certainties – and from accusations of atheism and materialism that were regularly, if inaccurately, levelled at him – he coined the word agnostic.
Huxley's neologism was not some arbitrary midway point between theism and atheism, as it has subsequently been treated. The "-theism" suffix is deliberately absent.
...
Continue reading
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/20/atheism-agnosticism-thomas-huxley
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