Agnostic atheism

Agnostic atheism, also called atheistic agnosticism, is a position combining atheism with agnosticism. In this usage, an agnostic atheist does not believe that any deity exists but does not claim to know that no deity exists, or holds that the existence or nonexistence of deities is unknown or unknowable.

The relationship between the terms depends on how atheism and agnosticism are defined. Atheism may refer broadly to the absence of theistic belief, but in philosophy of religion it is often used more narrowly for the proposition that God does not exist. Agnosticism may refer to suspension of judgment, or to the epistemological view that neither theism nor atheism is known. Under the broader belief-and-knowledge distinction, agnosticism can be either atheistic or theistic because atheism and theism concern belief, while agnosticism concerns knowledge. Under narrower philosophical definitions, however, atheism and agnosticism may be treated as distinct or mutually exclusive positions.

The relationship has been discussed in different terms by writers including Robert G. Ingersoll, Robert Flint, Bertrand Russell, Antony Flew, George H. Smith, and Richard Dawkins. Writers have approached it through frameworks including standards of proof, negative and positive atheism, and probabilistic degrees of belief.

Agnostic atheism may be contrasted with agnostic theism, the view that one or more deities exist while their existence or nonexistence is unknown or cannot be known.