Agnosticism in the 21st Century

Dear Colleagues,

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a slow but steadily growing interest in agnosticism. This is an important development for several reasons. One is that many, especially in the Western world, feel that they are unable to unequivocally identify with either of the main alternatives, theism or atheism (see, e.g., Taylor, 2007). However, compared with these alternatives, the research on agnosticism is still insufficient. Possible explanations for the shortage of research might be that agnosticism has too often been associated with atheism or that it has been narrowly defined as the lack of belief in the specific God of Perfect Being Theism. That is to say, the focus has been on withholding judgment about whether or not a perfectly good, omniscient and omnipotent God exists.

The purpose of the present issue is to continue the important work on agnosticism, especially to broaden this field of research. We welcome papers on all matters relating to agnosticism but particularly papers concerning the following broadly construed and interconnected research areas:

Understanding Agnosticism

A central research area concerns how we could define or understand agnosticism. Is agnosticism a belief, disbelief or rather a refusal to believe or disbelieve? Can we think of agnosticism as an attitude, as a proposition, or both (see, e.g., Draper 2022)? Is there an important distinction to be made between agnosticism, skepticism and, perhaps more importantly, atheism?

Varieties of Agnosticism

The literature on agnosticism is often focused on the God of Perfect Being Theism. However, other conceptions of God—such as, for example, pantheistic and panentheistic conceptions of God—might allow us to formulate other varieties of agnosticism. There are also both Islamic and Christian traditions that endorse an apophatic understanding of God and conceive of God as ineffable, beyond our comprehension or, at least to some extent, hidden. With these traditions in mind, is it possible to formulate apophatic forms of agnosticism? Can there be interesting forms of, for example, Buddhist agnosticism that, besides denying or suspending belief about gods, suspends judgment about, for example, karma? What about broader versions of agnosticism that focus on, for example, John Schellenberg’s Ultimism (a view Schellenberg has called ‘New Agnosticism’) or James Elliot’s Ietsism (see Schellenberg, 2013 and Elliot, 2017)? Are there other such broadly construed versions of agnosticism worthy of our consideration?

Justifying Agnosticism

A third important research area concerns, if and how we can justify agnosticism. Can agnosticism be considered a default stance? Is the idea of only one default stance for everyone to adopt at the outset justified?  Does the relevant evidence for or against the existence of God or gods cancel each other out? Does religious and evidential disagreement in itself support agnosticism? Should a rational agnostic need to explain why they are not an atheist by having answers to, e.g., arguments from evil or divine hiddenness (see, e.g., Jonbäck 2022)? Answers to questions such as these presumably depend on how one understands agnosticism and the variety of agnosticism under consideration.

Agnosticism and Religiosity

Agnosticism is not only often associated with atheism but also with a secular (non-religious) way of life. However, if an agnostic lacks belief in gods but regards the existence of a God or gods as being a live possibility, can or should the agnostic pursue a religious way of life? Should an agnostic hope that God exists and pursue a religious life based on that hope?  How should we construe or understand what Gary Gutting has called ‘Religious Agnosticism’ (see Gutting, 2013)? How can we compare the axiological value of theism and other worldviews to form a judgment about what to hope for (see, e.g., Kraay 2018 and Lougheed 2020)?

Draper, Paul (2022), ‘Atheism and Agnosticism’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Online: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2022/entries/atheism-agnosticism.

Elliot, James (2017), ‘The Power of Humility in Sceptical Religion: Why Ietsism is Preferable to J. L. Schellenberg’s Ultimism’. Religious Studies 53, no. 1, pp. 97–116.

Gutting, Gary (2013), ‘Religious Agnosticism’ Midwest Studies in Philosophy 37, no. 1, pp. 51–67.

Jonbäck, Francis (2022), ‘Sceptical Agnosticism’ The International Journal for the Study of Scepticism. Online before print: https://brill.com/view/journals/skep/aop/article-10.1163-22105700-bja10026/article-10.1163-22105700-bja10026.xml.

Kraay, Klaas (2018), Does God Matter Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism (New York: Routledge).

Lougheed, Kirk (2020), The Axiological Status of Theism and Other Worldviews (Cham: Palgrave Macmillian).

Schellenberg, John (2013), ‘In Praise of Austerity: A Reply to Forrest’. Sophia 52, no 4, pp. 695–700).

Taylor, Charles (2007), A Secular Age (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press).

Dr. Francis Jonbäck
Guest Editor

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