(n.) That doctrine which, professing ignorance, neither asserts nor denies.
(n.) The doctrine that the existence of a personal Deity, an unseen world, etc., can be neither proved nor disproved, because of the necessary limits of the human mind (as sometimes charged upon Hamilton and Mansel), or because of the insufficiency of the evidence furnished by physical and physical data, to warrant a positive conclusion (as taught by the school of Herbert Spencer); -- opposed alike dogmatic skepticism and to dogmatic theism.
Example Sentences:
(1) There can’t be something, someone that could fix this and chooses not to.” Years of agnosticism and an open attitude to religious beliefs thrust under the bus, acknowledging the shame that comes from sitting down with those the world forgot.
(2) Individually, they stood to declare their loyalty to the throne or to profess their monarchical agnosticism.
(3) Brexit: how a fringe idea took hold of the Tory party | Matthew d’Ancona Read more But Cameron was committed to a public position of agnosticism until the renegotiation was complete.
(4) I move for less censorship of "offensive" material, not more; more mocking of every religion and of atheism and its drippy twin, agnosticism, in front of which I plant my knee.
(5) To put it bluntly ‘doing something’ about global warming gathered strong political momentum in Australia.” Howard was full of praise for Tony Abbott for challenging what had “seemed to be the consensus” on the issue, saying – with a clear sense of approval – that Australians had now “settled into a state of sustained agnosticism … Of course the climate is changing.
(6) For years the population of US Catholics has gradually declined , according to researchers, in line with a broader trend of Americans walking away from religious institutions in favor of atheism, agnosticism and, especially, a category of “no affiliation”.
(7) Oddly, though, my gradual loss of faith and shift to agnosticism was counterbalanced with a growing appreciation for the positive source of meaning and empowerment that faith, spirituality, and collective religious practice can be in people's lives.
(8) AR: And in terms of the conflict between Darwin coming to a point of at least agnosticism from being religious, and Emma retaining her religion, how do you develop that sort of conflict between the two of you?
(9) The lessons on atheism, agnosticism and humanism for thousands of primary-school pupils in Ireland will be drawn up by Atheist Ireland and multi-denominational school provider Educate Together, in an education system that the Catholic church hierarchy has traditionally dominated.
(10) In Part I of this essay, I assess the fairness and cogency of three broad criticisms raised against 'principlism' as an approach: (1) that principlism, as an exercise in applied ethics, is insufficiently attentive to the dialectical relations between ethical theory and mortal practice; (2) that principlism fails to offer a systematic account of the principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, respect for autonomy, and justice; and (3) that principlism, as a version of moral pluralism, is fatally flawed by its theoretical agnosticism.
(11) (My own beliefs tend to veer towards agnosticism, with a healthy side of Buddhism.)
(12) Church of England = 33% Catholicism = 10% Other Christian = 9% Islam = 3% Hinduism = 2% Judaism = 1% Other religion = 3% Agnosticism = 17% Atheism = 21% Do you actively practise your religion, eg you attend regular religious services?
(13) Despite his own agnosticism, the vernacular "sorrow songs" became the privileged vehicle for expressing "the deep religious feeling of the real Negro heart" - the soul ofblack experience.
(14) Howard was forced to, at least temporarily, disavow his personal agnosticism by public opinion, which had been influenced by recent weather events.
Scepticism
Definition:
() etc. See Skeptic, Skeptical, Skepticism, etc.
Example Sentences:
(1) Occasional vomits occur postoperatively in over half of patients but we are sceptical of the value of graded postoperative feeding regimens.
(2) It ended with a withering putdown: “I’m leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before ,” Juncker told his host.
(3) David Rothkopf, writing in Foreign Policy, is similarly sceptical. "
(4) A government-commissioned review into the RET, headed by the businessman and climate change sceptic Dick Warburton, concluded that while it has largely achieved its aims and helped create jobs in clean energy, it should be either wound back or cut off entirely.
(5) But she has repeatedly said she doesn't want the job and her hardline attitude to human rights abuses in her current job as secretary of state is said to have made the Chinese sceptical about her candidacy.
(6) My scepticism has not vanished overnight and I cannot help but still be haunted by certain fears.
(7) We had a brief conversation and I said to him he was acting from high honour here, and I said how sorry I was this wasn’t happening in three or four years time..because Barry is a man of honour..and I think he is a very capable premier and I think he has been missed.” Asked whether he had ever met Nick di Girolamo , the prime minister said both he and Mr di Girolamo attended a lot of functions, and “I don’t for a moment say I have never met him but I don’t recall it.” But former federal Liberal MP Ross Cameron sounded much more sceptical about O’Farrell’s memory lapse when speaking to Sky News.
(8) And despite the initial scepticism, now completely gone says Henry, DCA's transparency and accountability systems and mechanisms are now "some of the most convincing tools to fundraising, credibility and brand recognition" and is used by face-to-face fundraisers, volunteers and PR to promote the organisation.
(9) Kerry warned a sceptical and sometimes raucous panel that failing to strike Syria would embolden al-Qaida and raise to 100% the chances that Assad would use chemical weapons again.
(10) Anette Oien, too, was "deeply sceptical" to start with.
(11) Few of us will have reliable memories from before three or four years of age, and recollections from before that time need to be treated with scepticism.
(12) His initial exposure to leftist ideas was via the underground hippy press which provided him "with a certain amount of scepticism".
(13) He thinks Obama himself is sceptical of the current surge; in fact he thinks many of the politicians who back it are only really doing so because they want a fast exit from Afghanistan.
(14) Sceptics said the US protections for journalists would make such a prosecution difficult and also cited pragmatic issues, such as the difficulty of extraditing Assange, an Australian.
(15) Sceptics have queried whether such vast sums are realistic for an unstable nation that is battling terror groups and has struggled to attract significant foreign investment.
(16) But Clive Cowdery, who founded the company as Resolution Group in 2009, is understood to have been sceptical about such a go-it-alone strategy and preferred a sale on the right terms.
(17) Record numbers of shoppers hit the stores this weekend for the Thanksgiving Day sales but retail experts are sceptical that the trend can continue into a bumper Monday for online retailers.
(18) The middle term attracts the most scepticism, based on the presumption that just because your field isn't professionally accredited, you do not know anything and you can't process information.
(19) Smith, a climate change sceptic who has also subpoenaed government scientists’ communications, has accused the attorney generals of a political witch-hunt and for causing a “chilling impact on scientific research and development”.
(20) Glitzy online lectures, or fancy learning technologies, are difficult to reconcile with this fundamental scepticism.