Timeline for Agnostic vs Atheist
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 30, 2017 at 16:14 | comment | added | Astralbee | @konradrudolph I felt a linguistic approach was most appropriate here on the English learners site. Most learners of English have their own language and are looking to relate English to their own language. Also, knowing the roots of these two words goes to helping one understand and remember the difference between the two, which was a fundamental part of the question. Also, despite dictionary definitions, many who identify as atheist or agnostic have differing views anyway. | |
| Dec 30, 2017 at 11:16 | comment | added | oerkelens | @KonradRudolph Actually, the description of atheist as "they do not believe in a god" (an atheist does not believe there is a god) feels a lot more comfortable to me than the singular adherence to "hard atheism" (an atheist believes there is no god) in the other answers. I agree a full answer should include both. | |
| Dec 29, 2017 at 17:55 | comment | added | Konrad Rudolph | While in this case apparently correct, I find it dangerous to rely solely on etymology to explain a word’s meaning. Meanings change over time (and that of “atheist” has!) and as a consequence etymology is often misleading. | |
| Dec 29, 2017 at 15:21 | comment | added | thanby | I'm glad someone addressed the actual structure of the words themselves. The other two answers (as of now) excellently state the differences between the concepts, but this is the other half of the explanation. | |
| Dec 29, 2017 at 15:18 | history | answered | Astralbee | CC BY-SA 3.0 |