Atheism, Agnosticism and the Nature of Non-Belief
Atheism and agnosticism are two forms of non-belief in God: atheism is the belief or lack of belief that God does not exist, while agnosticism is the position that God's existence is unknown or unknowable. Each comes in strong and weak forms, defended by thinkers such as Russell, Freud and Dawkins, and is distinct from the related ideas of secularism and apatheism.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the precise definitions: atheism is the belief that God does not exist (or, in its weaker form, simply the absence of belief in God); agnosticism is the position that it is not known, or cannot be known, whether God exists.
- Learn the difference between strong (positive) atheism, actively asserting no God exists, and weak (negative) atheism, simply lacking belief without making that stronger claim; and between weak agnosticism ('I do not currently know') and strong agnosticism ('it is impossible in principle to know').
- Learn key arguments used to support non-belief: the problem of evil and suffering (link to RS.TC5), the lack of empirical, testable evidence for God, and Ockham's razor, the principle that the simplest sufficient explanation should be preferred, used to argue a Creator is an unnecessary addition to scientific explanations.
- Learn key thinkers associated with atheism: Bertrand Russell, whose 'Russell's teapot' analogy argues the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim, not the sceptic; Sigmund Freud, who argued belief in God is a psychological projection, a wish for a protective father-figure; and Richard Dawkins, a prominent contemporary atheist writer.
- Learn that the term 'agnostic' was coined by the biologist Thomas Huxley in 1869, to describe a considered position of not knowing, rather than simple indifference.
- Learn the distinction between atheism/agnosticism (positions on God's existence) and secularism (the separation of religion from public and state life) and apatheism (indifference to the question), since students commonly confuse these terms.
- Learn a religious response to non-belief: that absence of empirical proof is not the same as proof of absence, and that religious experience, or arguments such as the design or cosmological argument (link to RS.TC1, RS.TC2), still provide grounds for belief that non-believers reject rather than refute conclusively.
- Practise using the strong/weak distinction precisely in an answer, since simply writing 'atheists do not believe in God' misses the more nuanced marks available at higher grades.
Worked example
Explain the difference between strong atheism and weak atheism, and give one argument associated with each.
- Define strong (positive) atheism: the active claim or belief that God does not exist, not merely a lack of belief.
- Give an argument associated with strong atheism: the problem of evil is sometimes used to argue that an all-powerful, all-loving God cannot exist given the amount of suffering in the world, supporting a positive claim that God does not exist.
- Define weak (negative) atheism: simply lacking belief in God, without going as far as claiming to know or assert that God does not exist.
- Give an argument associated with weak atheism: Bertrand Russell's teapot analogy argues the burden of proof lies with whoever claims God exists, so, absent sufficient evidence, withholding belief is reasonable without needing to prove a negative.
- Combine into a final answer: strong atheism actively asserts God does not exist, often using arguments such as the problem of evil, while weak atheism withholds belief for lack of sufficient evidence, as illustrated by Russell's teapot, without claiming certainty that no God exists.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Give the difference between strong (positive) atheism and weak (negative) atheism.Show answer
Answer: Strong atheism actively asserts God does not exist; weak atheism is simply the absence of belief in God, without claiming certainty that none exists.
Q2Which philosopher coined the term 'agnostic' in 1869?Show answer
Answer: Thomas Huxley.
Q3What does Russell's teapot analogy argue about the burden of proof?Show answer
Answer: That the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim (e.g. that God exists), not with the sceptic who withholds belief.
Q4According to Freud, what psychological need does belief in God satisfy?Show answer
Answer: A wish for a protective father-figure, making God a form of psychological projection.
Q5What does Ockham's razor state, and how is it used to argue for atheism?Show answer
Answer: That the simplest sufficient explanation should be preferred; it is used to argue that a Creator is an unnecessary addition once natural explanations are available.
Q6What is the difference between atheism and secularism?Show answer
Answer: Atheism is a position on whether God exists; secularism is the separation of religion from public and state life, and a person can hold either position independently of the other.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Religious Studies exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two arguments used to support atheism.
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'Agnosticism is a more reasonable position than either theism or atheism.' Evaluate this statement, referring to different points of view and reaching a justified conclusion.
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Free printable worksheet
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