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What is agnosticism? Is it just the 'don't know' position on God, or is there more to it than this? Is it a belief, or merely the absence of belief? Who were the first to call themselves 'agnostics'? These are just some of the questions that Robin Le Poidevin considers in this Very Short Introduction. He sets the philosophical case for agnosticism and explores it as a historical and cultural phenomenon. What emerges is a much more sophisticated, and much more interesting, attitude than a simple failure to either commit to, or reject, religious belief. Le Poidevin challenges some preconceptions and assumptions among both believers and non-atheists, and invites the reader to rethink their own position on the issues. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Agnosticism: With Respect to God brings together leading philosophers, considering the question of agnosticism, an under-explored area in philosophy and religious thought, from both analytic and continental perspectives. The book explores the various meanings of agnosticism in the twenty-first century.

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This book is an elementary introduction to atheism and agnosticism. It begins with a careful characterisation of atheism and agnosticism, distinguishing them from many other things with which they are often conflated. After a brief discussion of the theoretical framework within which atheism and agnosticism are properly evaluated, it then turns to the sketching of cases for atheism and agnosticism. In both cases, the aim is not conviction, but rather advancement of understanding: the point of the cases is to make it intelligible why some take themselves to have compelling reason to adopt atheism or agnosticism.

Until the nineteenth century, thinkers who entertained doubts about the existence of God were branded "atheists" and "infidels", and were subject to persecutions. But in the late nineteenth-century Britain a group of highly respectable thinkers emerged who argued for the radical conclusion that theology is impossible, and that we humans cannot know what, if anything, lies behind the veil of appearances. This volume provides extracts of the best-known agnostics (Spencer, Huxley, Stephen, Clifford, and Tyndall), and their less well-known theological opponents. The debate marks a major turning point in Western attitudes toward religious belief; the burden of proof was henceforth firmly placed on the shoulders of the theologians.