From: turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin)
Subject: Meaning of atheism, agnosticism  (was: Krillean Photography)
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
Lines: 23
NNTP-Posting-Host: saltillo.cs.utexas.edu

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Sci.med removed from followups.  (And I do not read any of the
other newsgroups.)

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In article <1993Apr30.170233.12510@rosevax.rosemount.com> grante@aquarius.rosemount.com (Grant Edwards) writes:
> As a self-proclaimed atheist my position is that I _believe_ that 
> there is no god.  I don't claim to have any proof.  I interpret
> the agnostic position as having no beliefs about god's existence.

That's fine.  These words have multiple meanings.

As a self-proclaimed atheist, I believe that *some* conceptions
of god are inconsistent or in conflict with fact, and I lack
belief in other conceptions of god merely because there is no
reason for me to believe in these.  I usually use the word
agnostic to mean someone who believes that the existence of
a god is unknown inherently unknowable.  Note that this is a
positive belief that is quite different from not believing in a
god; I do not believe in a god, but I also do not believe the
agnostic claim.

Russell
