Ignosticism Explained

Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word "God" has no coherent and unambiguous definition.

Terminology

The term ignosticism was coined in 1964 by Sherwin Wine, a rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism.

Distinction from theological noncognitivism

Ignosticism and theological noncognitivism are similar although whereas the ignostic says "every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God", the theological noncognitivist claims to have no concept whatever to label as "a concept of God",^[1] but the relationship of ignosticism to other nontheistic views is less clear. While Paul Kurtz finds the view to be compatible with both weak atheism and agnosticism,^[2] other philosophers consider ignosticism to be distinct.

See also

• Apatheism
• Apophatic theology
• Atheism
• Conceptions of God
• Epistemology
• Ietsism
• Loki's Wager
• Pantheism
• Scientific method
• Verificationism

Sources

• Conifer . Steven J. . Theological Noncognitivism Examined . The Interlocutor . 4 . June 2002 . 24 May 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040123040516/http://www.sewanee.edu/philosophy/Journal/Archives/2002/Conifer.htm . January 23, 2004 .
• Web site: Drange . Theodore . Atheism, Agnosticism, Noncognitivism . 1998 . 2007-03-26 . .
• Book: Kurtz, Paul . Paul Kurtz . The New Skepticism: Inquiry and Reliable Knowledge . 1992 . . . 0-87975-766-3 .
• Book: Lindsay, James A. . James A. Lindsay . 2015 . Everybody is Wrong About God . Pitchstone Publishing . 978-1-63431-036-9.
• News: Rauch . Jonathan . Let It Be . . 291 . 4 . 2003 . 2007-05-24 .
• News: Spiegel . Irving . Jewish 'Ignostic' Stirs Convention; Dropping of 'God' in Service Deplored and Condoned . . 62 . 1965-06-20 .

Notes and References

1. Conifer, Theological Noncognitivism: "Theological noncognitivism is usually taken to be the view that the sentence 'God exists' is cognitively meaningless."
2. Kurtz, New Skepticism, 220: "Both [atheism and agnosticism] are consistent with igtheism, which finds the belief in a metaphysical, transcendent being basically incoherent and unintelligible."