Weak atheism

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If you don't know if there an odd or even number of sweets in a jar, do you disbelieve there are an even number in the jar? Not knowing does not require evidence since it is the default position.

Weak atheism is a lack of belief in any gods. Unlike strong atheism, there is no positive assertion that no god exists. Weak atheism is occasionally called negative atheism, negative meaning it makes no positive claims.

"“Weak atheism,” sometimes called “soft atheism,” “negative atheism” or “neutral atheism,” is the absence of belief in the existence of deities without the positive assertion that deities do not exist.[1]"

This is one of the broader definitions of atheism and is preferred by most (but not all) atheists.

Other definitions[edit]

"Weak atheists do not find the evidence for the existence of gods persuasive. While theists say that deities, or gods, do exist, weak atheists do not necessarily disagree. Some simply hold no opinion on the matter. Others more actively have doubts that gods exist. They consider it likely that gods do not exist because no one can prove that they do. In this respect, weak atheism is similar to agnosticism, or the view that gods might or might not exist but no one can know for certain.[2]"

"You ever seen one of those things with a jar on a counter and its full of gumballs? And they have a contest to see who can guess the closest to the actual number of gumballs? As long as there are gumballs in that jar, you and I would agree that the number is either even or odd? What is the default position on the number of gumballs [being odd or even]? [Caller responds "The default position is neutral"] Yes. But if someone asserts 'the number of gumballs in this jar, I believe, is even.', if I'm in the default position, I disbelieve that assertion, I do not accept that assertion, I reject that assertion. That doesn't mean that I think that the number is odd because we only address a single prong of a dilemma at a time. Either a God exists or it doesn't. A theist is offering the proposition that a God exists (that the number of gumballs is even) and I am rejecting their assertion. Theism is the acceptance of that position and atheism is the rejection of that position. It's not the assertion that there are no Gods. I don't believe their assertion. I also don't claim that I know that their assertion was false."

Matt Dillahunty[3]

Arguments for weak atheism[edit]

Strictly speaking, weak atheism is a rejection of a positive claim. While many reach weak atheism based on skepticism, it is possible to be a weak atheist by simply not considering the existence of God. Therefore, there can be no evidence can be presented since you can't prove a negative.

Strong atheism implies certainty, perhaps even beyond the scientific certainty with which we regard scientific theories such as gravity or germs. In a very real sense, every scientific "truth" is considered open to doubt when new evidence is uncovered.

Some formulations of God may be logically contradictory, but that does not mean that all possible gods are. If it were discovered that the real world is a simulation, as in the film The Matrix, then the creator of that simulation might well be considered a god. This does not answer the question of where that god or its universe came from, but it does share qualities that would make it godlike.

Arguments against weak atheism[edit]

See arguments for strong atheism.

References[edit]

  1. New World Encyclopedia
  2. World Religions: Primary Sources, Michael J. O'Neal and J. Sydney Jones
  3. [1]


v · d Atheism
Terminology   Etymology of the word atheist · Weak atheism · Strong atheism · Agnosticism · Atheist vs. agnostic · Tenets and dogma
Contemporary literature   The End of Faith · The God Delusion · God: The Failed Hypothesis · Letter to a Christian Nation · God Is Not Great · Irreligion · 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
Classic literature   Why I Am Not a Christian
Atheist and secular groups   Atheist groups · Secular charities · How American Non-Atheists view Atheists
Contemporary authors   Richard Dawkins · Daniel Dennett · A. C. Grayling · Sam Harris · Guy P. Harrison · John Allen Paulos · James Randi · Victor Stenger
Internet non-believers   Reginald Vaughn Finley · PZ Myers
Writers and philosophers   David Hume · Robert Ingersoll · Friedrich Nietzsche · Bertrand Russell · Carl Sagan · Voltaire · Jean-Paul Sartre · John Stuart Mill · Karl Marx · Heraclitus