Weak Agnosticism - Criticism of Agnosticism

Criticism of Agnosticism

Weak agnostics have often been accused of being "fence-sitters", that is, indecisive. This arises if one considers the matter to be about belief rather than about knowledge. (Cf. Epistemology) For agnostics, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that there is not enough information to justify a knowledge claim, and that it would be a leap of faith either to believe that a deity exists or to deny any deity exists. There are many theists who agree that they do not know their belief to be true, and there are many atheists (See: agnostic atheism) who do not claim certainty that no deity exists. Agnostic theists seldom identify primarily as agnostic, and many people who primarily identify as agnostic do not believe in a deity. Richard Dawkins refers to weak agnostics as "Temporary Agnostics in Practice" (TAPs), and he considers them to be reasonable people due to the lack of certainty one way or the other. Dawkins, however, argues that weak agnostics are really de facto atheists.