Ignosticism

Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless unless the word “God” is given a coherent and unambiguous definition, preferably yielding falsifiable logical consequences.

Also, Ignosticism — a personal discipline that holds that the concept ‘god’ bears no deductive or falsifiable (Popper) definition (Wittgenstein), and therefore prohibits me from concluding or making further scientific comment on the matter (epoché). A personal freedom from antiquated, imperious and incoherent claims of traditional religion and atheism.

Terminology

The term ignosticism was coined in the 1960s by Sherwin Wine, a rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism.

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Distinction from theological noncognitivism

Ignosticism and theological noncognitivism are similar although whereas the ignostic says “every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God“, the theological noncognitivist claims to have no concept whatever to label as “a concept of God”, but the relationship of ignosticism to other nontheistic views is less clear. While Paul Kurtz finds the view to be compatible with both weak atheism and agnosticism, other philosophers consider ignosticism to be distinct.

See also

References

  • Conifer, Steven J. (June 2002). “Theological Noncognitivism Examined”. The Interlocutor4. Archived from the original on January 23, 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
  • Drange, Theodore (1998). “Atheism, Agnosticism, Noncognitivism”. Internet Infidels. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  • Kurtz, Paul (1992). The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge. Buffalo: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-766-3.
  • Rauch, Jonathan (2003). “Let It Be”. The Atlantic291 (4). Retrieved 2007-05-24.
  • Spiegel, Irving (1965-06-20). “Jewish ‘Ignostic’ Stirs Convention; Dropping of ‘God’ in Service Deplored and Condoned”. New York Times. p. 62.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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