Wikipedia defines agnosticism as “an agnosticism about God and philosophy; related to skepticism and the absence of a belief in a personal God”. Wikipedia further states that this philosophical concept is “marked by a rejection of traditional religious belief and a strong personal rejection of religion”. However, there are several distinctively important differences between agnosticism and atheism. In order to understand these distinctions, we must first examine the nature of agnosticism itself, which in turn will provide a clue to the nature of different atheistic philosophies.
Wikipedia provides an excellent summary of the history of agnosticism. According to Wikipedia, the most recent form of agnosticism is “a belief that traditional religions are arbitrary and that there is no supreme being who can be observed or heard.” The other forms of agnosticism include Stoicism, Pantheism, and Neoplasmism. These atheistic philosophies all reject the existence of a supreme being or gods. They also all have common elements, such as a rejection of religion as a source of knowledge or a means of obtaining happiness. Many of these atheistic philosophers hold to the view that knowledge and happiness are independent of faith.
In contrast to agnosticism, some atheistic agnostics hold to the view, “God does not exist” in order to avoid acting according to a set of arbitrary moral rules. A theistic atheist may reason that the path to happiness would lie in following “the will of God”, which is supposedly omniscient and omnipotent. In addition, some atheistic agnostics may argue that moral rules and laws are required to ensure that people live in accordance with the dictates of universal natural laws. Finally, some atheistic agnostics may hold to the principle that moral values are determined by the will of a higher power, which they believe can never change.