Religion and knowledge of the world have always been one of the most discussed subjects in the philosophical sphere. Unfortunately, many of the ignorant do not at all understand the meaning and difference between this or that philosophical trend or concept. Knowledge of the world, religion and agnosticism - how are these terms related and what meaning do they carry?
Basic definition of agnosticism. History of the term
If you turn to sources such as Wikipedia, you can find something like the following definition for the query "Agnosticism":
"… The term used in philosophy, the theory of knowledge and theology, denoting the position according to which the knowledge of existing reality (truth) is completely impossible through ordinary (subjective) knowledge. Agnosticism denies the possibility of proving a statement that is based on subjective experience. As a philosophical teaching, agnosticism - the idea of the impossibility of knowing the world."
In science, agnosticism is the teaching that any knowledge of something is deliberately distorted by our mind, and, accordingly, a person cannot know the nature of the origin of any phenomenon or thing.
It was the agnostics who were the first to seriously develop the postulate that "any truth is relative and objective." According to agnosticism, each person has his own truth, which can change with the development of science and technology.
The term "agnosticism" was first coined by the zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. “When I reached intellectual maturity, I began to wonder who I was: a Christian, an atheist, a pantheist, a materialist, an idealist, or a free-thinking person … I realized that I could not call myself any of the listed, except the last,” wrote Huxley.
An agnostic is a person who is convinced that the primary nature of things and phenomena cannot be fully studied due to the subjectivity of the human mind.
The connection between agnosticism and philosophy and religion
In connection with science, agnosticism is not an independent teaching, because it can be isolated from any other teaching that does not force the search for absolute truth. For example, agnosticism is consistent with positivism and Kantianism, but, on the other hand, is criticized by materialists and adherents of religious philosophy.
Do not confuse an atheist and an agnostic. The atheist completely denies the existence of God and the supernatural in principle, and the agnostic admits this existence, but is convinced that it cannot be refuted or proven.
The agnostic considers the arguments presented to prove the existence of God completely untenable in order to come to an unambiguous conclusion. However, it is worth noting that some religions do not initially have a personified God (Buddhism, Taoism), and therefore can hardly come into conflict with agnosticism.