Arguing for Agnosticism? | Episode 610 | Closer To Truth

Agnostics claim that they do not know whether or not God exists. Theists surmise they're reprobates. Atheists suppose they're cowards. Are there different kinds of agnostics? Can agnosticism deepen appreciation for existence? Featuring interviews with Mark Vernon, Nick Bostrom, Denis Alexander, Leonard Susskind, and John Searle.

Season 6, Episode 10 - #CloserToTruth

Closer To Truth host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.

Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.*

#Agnosticism #Philosophy

[deanwilson]

Agnosticism is really the only intellectually honest position regarding theism or atheism.

[steveodavis]

I consider myself agnostic on many issues especially any metaphysical questions that are unprovable by their nature. People who demand you choose sides are always dogmatic and doctrinal which is contemptible to me. It's alright to say you don't know when you don't. Agnosticism is a sign of rationality to me.

[realnumber_]

This show is a rare gem. I am intrigued by the various views, and opinions. The philosophies shared are intellectually profound. I am fortunate to have found this channel

[MasterKoala]

I was expecting the physicist studying String Theory (Prof. Susskind) to be the most sure of what he knows and believes, yet he is the most vocal about how little we know. It’s both humbling and amazing.

[willbrink]

I'm agnostic and don't really give a damn religious or atheistic types want label that one way or another frankly.

[Gjermund-Sivertsen]

Agnosticism = Honesty. If you don't know, be honest! Too many people "know", where they are in reality just wishing.

[deepaktripathi]

I've been listening debates on God and I can say that I'm proud to be an agnostic.

[wisdomseeker]

I was a reformed christian for 43 years... now I am agnostic

[DaveJLin]

There's a theist in every atheist and an atheist in every theist.

[KraftyUk]

Im a believer in god but resent and disagree with religion and faith in cult religious activities. Maybe im an Agnostic.... but im quite fond of Christmas because it makes everyone Happy.

[johnnavarra]

I consider myself a passionate (analytic) agnostic as championed in this video. Like Kuhn, I very much would like "god" to exist and ultimately provide some meaning to our world and our lives, but like Searle and many others, I remain highly skeptical that a God Hypothesis is a cogent path to follow. However, it is a bit surprising (and somewhat disappointing) that Kuhn commits one of the very fallacies talked about in another of his other videos in this series, and right in front of Simulation Argument guru Nick Bostrom no less! Presuming that an all-powerful (blah blah blah) Creator God is the only theodicy in town is a huge fallacy! Like Susskind advocates, we should be uber-agnostic about the origins of this universe, and what it all means, if anything. It is very possible that everything was created by a far less than perfect God. It is possible that we are living in a Simulation. At least the Simulation Hypothesis can be cogently formulated and analyzed (at least in comparison to other creation stories), and readily answers the Problem of Evil, and the Fine-Tuning Problem as well. Anyway, as a final word, my passion for the agnostic position can be boiled down to one simple statement: God May Exist. That statement is categorically true. And what's more, any addition to that statement breaches a religion. And that religion should be passionately, vehemently, and most critically challenged.

[andreea]

'When you're dead, you don't know you're dead, but for the others it's sad..the same is when you're stupid' 😻

[luiseqf]

I’m feeding my brain watching this. Thank you for existing. 🙌🏼

[frankwhelan]

''I'm suspicious when we believe what we want to believe''

[thephilosophicalagnostic]

I'm a philosophical agnostic because I've thought seriously about the implications of human limits. The more I learn, the more I know that I don't know. And the kinds of assertions made by theists and atheists are the kinds of things humans simply cannot know.

[federicopettinicchio]

There is a famous story in Buddhism:
One day a guy who never believed in God comes up to Buddha and asks him: Is there a God?
And the Buddha says: Yes.
Later that day a guy who always believed in God comes up to Buddha and asks him: Is there a God?
And the Buddha says: No.
A follower of the Buddha who overhears both conversations comes up to him and asks: I've heard you say to one man that there is a God and to the other that there is none. So which is it? Why did you do it?
And the Buddha says: I told the non-believer that there was a God because he never truly considered the idea and I told the believer that there was no God because he never considered that there could be no God. If I told them what they already knew they wouldn't have been able to learn anything, so I just nudged them in a way that would allow them to progress.

[smitsos]

All the speakers were great and very honest. We simply cannot verify that there is a God but equally we cannot disprove a universal negative.

The concept of God helps us come to terms with questions about the finality of death, the injustices of our world and the burning questions of our purpose but as John S rightly states we ought to be suspicious of believing something that we desperately want to believe.

[DrRemorse]

Thank you ... sadly parent can push their faith on children before they can understand and then have to deal with heavy emotional and spiritual problem for years once they are older

[henryhawthorn]

I didn’t choose to be an agnostic, but I’m an agnostic by nature, or skeptical about any claims beyond human senses. I feel that many things are simply beyond humans’ ability to comprehend, just as it’s impossible for a dog to understand quantum physics. Unanswerable questions are, for example, the concept of infinity, the manifestation of something out of nothing in reference to how the universe started out of the vacuum of space, how was life started from dead matter, is there a conscious supernatural being that designed and created the universe? So agnosticism, or skepticism go beyond simply not knowing if there’s a god or not, but in realizing that it’s impossible to know anything beyond the realm of the human senses. And I am completely comfortable in not knowing. I feel freedom in guiding my own life without the restraint of having to follow other people’s rules.

[mr.coffee]

I’m Agnostic because it’s not ignorantly believing there is something, nor are you ignorantly believing in nothing. It’s a perfect balance, I think.