Agnosticism is a position that questions the existence of God or the divine. On a psychological level, it is a personal attitude that suspends judgment, withholding both belief and disbelief. In philosophy, agnosticism is often treated as a general claim stating that God's existence is unknown or unknowable. In the broadest sense, agnosticism is not restricted to theology and can also express skeptical attitudes toward non-religious claims.
Agnosticism contrasts with theism, which affirms God's existence, and atheism, which denies it. It is often understood either as a neutral middle ground between the two or as a rejection of their shared assumption that knowledge is attainable. Agnosticism is commonly characterized as an informed indecision by someone who has reflected on the issue but has not reached a conclusion, distinguishing agnostics from those who have never considered the issue. It is related to skepticism and fallibilism, which deny that knowledge or absolute certainty is possible.
Arguments for and against agnosticism are discussed in the academic literature. Proponents typically hold that evidence regarding God's existence is inconclusive and that intellectual humility demands suspending judgment. Different groups of critics contend that there is decisive evidence either for or against God's existence, or that the absence of decisive evidence leaves disbelief, rather than the suspension of judgment, as the default attitude. Agnosticism is often associated with a secular lifestyle that resembles atheism in practice, but it does not necessarily preclude religion. For example, agnostic theists believe in God while denying that true knowledge of the divine is possible.
The term agnosticism was coined in the 19th century by Thomas Henry Huxley, who rejected speculative theological and metaphysical conclusions without sufficient evidence. However, its precursors and theoretical roots can be traced to antiquity, including ideas found in ancient Greek and Indian thought.
Definition
Agnosticism is a stance questioning the existence of God or the divine. It is a neutral position in which an individual neither affirms nor denies God's existence. Instead, they withhold judgment and remain open to both possibilities. Agnosticism is typically contrasted with belief and disbelief, and is understood either as the absence of both or as a distinct attitude, such as a settled indecision. A commonly discussed criterion is that the agnostic has considered the question of God's existence but has not reached a positive or negative conclusion. In this sense, someone who does not comprehend the question or has never thought about it, such as an infant, does not count as agnostic. Agnostics are often motivated by the idea that the available evidence is inconclusive, preferring to withhold assent as an expression of intellectual humility rather than adopt a dogmatic stance.
Philosophers often define agnosticism in a stronger sense as the theory that the existence of God is unknowable. This attitude goes beyond suspension of belief by embracing the claim that human cognition is too limited to access or verify this information. In its broadest sense, agnosticism is not restricted to religious questions but can be applied to any field. For example, a person can be agnostic about the truth of string theory or the existence of free will if they are unable to reach a verdict on these issues.
Agnosticism is often contrasted with theism and atheism and treated either as a middle ground between the two or as a rejection of their shared assumption that knowledge about God is attainable. Some approaches group agnosticism with atheism as an irreligious attitude in which belief in God is absent. Agnostics are not necessarily opposed to religion and may engage in some religious practices and traditions while remaining uncommitted about God's existence.
The word agnosticism derives from the Ancient Greek terms (), meaning , and (), meaning . It was coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech to the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe the view that humans lack the cognitive capacity to attain definitive knowledge about God and related matters. Agnosticism is discussed in several fields of inquiry, including theology, philosophy of religion, psychology of religion, religious studies, and the social sciences.
Types Several types of agnosticism are discussed in the academic literature, distinguished by the kind of attitude, form of inquiry, and scope of subject matter.
Based on attitude Psychological or doxastic agnosticism is a suspension of judgment. In this sense, a person is agnostic if they have considered God's existence but neither believe nor disbelieve it. Psychological agnosticism describes someone's state of mind without implying that this state is rational or demanded by a general lack of evidence. It contrasts with epistemological or cognitive agnosticism, which asserts that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable. Epistemological agnosticism argues that humans are unable to acquire this kind of information or that there is insufficient evidence to reach a definitive verdict. Some versions maintain that no evidence is available; others hold that the evidence for and against is mixed or balances out. In either case, epistemological agnosticism concerns what people should or should not believe, not what they actually believe. Accordingly, it rejects both theism and atheism for claiming more than the evidence permits. Epistemological agnosticism is sometimes interpreted as skepticism about God because of its focus on the limits of knowledge.
A related distinction focuses on the degree of commitment. Weak agnosticism is a personal attitude of someone who neither believes nor disbelieves. It is a lack of conviction in which an individual does not commit to either option without generalizing this stance into a universal claim about what others can or cannot know. Strong agnosticism, by contrast, embraces the more assertive position that knowledge of God's existence is impossible. The contrast between weak and strong agnosticism is sometimes framed as a claim about what is reasonable to believe. In this sense, weak agnosticism holds that it is rational to suspend judgment about God. This view does not deem theism and atheism irrational; it merely treats suspension of judgment as a permissible option. Strong agnosticism, by contrast, involves the wider claim that agnosticism is the viable option, meaning that claims about the existence or non-existence of God lack sufficient justification and should be withheld.
Based on inquiry A different set of distinctions targets the inquiry involved in the agnostic stance. Grounded agnosticism is the result of serious inquiry: the person has considered the options, tried to gather evidence, and reflected on the arguments for and against. After taking everything into account, they have concluded that neither belief nor disbelief is decisively justified, leading them to see the matter as unresolvable. Ungrounded agnosticism, by contrast, withholds judgment without engaging in substantive investigation. In this case, the person understands the issue and has a basic idea of how an inquiry could proceed but has not undertaken it, for example, because they do not consider the issue important enough. The term stored agnosticism is sometimes used for an even weaker form in which a person lacks an opinion because they have never considered the issue. It is controversial whether this attitude should be regarded as a genuine form of agnosticism since no deliberate assessment of the issue was involved.
Another distinction is between optimistic, pessimistic, and hesitant agnosticism, which agree about the current lack of knowledge but disagree about the prospects of future inquiry. According to optimistic agnosticism, also called temporary agnosticism in practice, the issue may be decided in the future. In this case, a person suspends judgment but remains open to the possibility that future discoveries could provide decisive evidence one way or the other. Pessimistic agnosticism, or permanent agnosticism in principle, rejects this possibility. It holds that the question is irresolvable in principle, meaning that no amount of inquiry can settle the matter. Hesitant agnosticism is undecided both about the issue itself and about the prospects of future inquiry. Accordingly, it is unsure whether further investigation can provide evidence or whether the obstacles to knowledge are insurmountable.
Pessimistic forms of agnosticism differ over whether the problem is with available evidence or with the underlying fact. According to evidence-based views, the available evidence is insufficient to settle the matter. One suggestion holds that there is no serious evidence and that all proposed arguments fall short of the standards of rationality. Another suggestion acknowledges the presence of evidence but contends that the considerations for and against God's existence cancel each other out, so that the balance of all reasons favors neither side. Fact-based views assert that no future inquiry can resolve the issue because there is no determinate fact of the matter one way or the other. According to this view, the statement "God exists" is neither true nor false but indeterminate.
Others Researchers also distinguish types of agnosticism based on the subject matter about which judgment is suspended. Agnosticism is typically associated with the existence of God but can be applied to other topics. For example, someone can be agnostic about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life or the possibility of a Grand Unified Theory in physics. Accordingly, a person is agnostic about any religious or non-religious statement if they suspend judgment about it or hold that it is unknowable. Such a stance is a local or partial agnosticism limited to a specific domain: one can be agnostic about God without being agnostic about extraterrestrial life. Global or complete agnosticism, by contrast, is a broader stance that seeks to suspend judgment about everything, arguing that nothing is knowable. It is similar to radical or philosophical skepticism, which puts everything into question. Given its sweeping implications and self-undermining tendencies, global agnosticism is rarely defended as a serious position in contemporary philosophy.
Secular and religious agnosticism are distinguished by their relation to religious attitudes and practices. Agnosticism is typically associated with a secular or atheistic outlook that doubts the existence of the divine and the truth of sacred scriptures, resulting in a non-religious lifestyle that avoids traditional worship and favors naturalistic explanations. Agnostic atheists directly combine these two strands, justifying their lack of belief by arguing that knowledge is unattainable. However, not all forms of agnosticism are opposed to religion. For example, a person may suspend judgment only about specific aspects of doctrine while accepting others and engaging in religious practices. Some religious traditions explicitly embrace a form of agnosticism, such as agnostic theism and Christian agnosticism. Such an approach can be motivated by the idea that true knowledge of the divine is impossible and that religious devotion should be guided by faith rather than reason. For example, fideism contrasts faith with reason and asserts that faith is better at arriving at religious truths. Negative theology, another school of thought, maintains that the divine transcends human concepts and language, meaning that one can describe it only in a negative sense by stating what it is not.