Agnosticism is the belief that is neither a deep belief in god nor Atheism. There is weak agnosticism (the belief that we might eventually know if god exists) and strong agnosticism (the belief that we will never know if god exists). There is not enough convincing evidence to support or disprove god's existence, and cannot believe or disbelief in god without clear evidence. Agnosticism is also the belief that without understanding what caused the universe, we cannot understand or know anything about god.
David Hume (1711-1976) was an influential figure whose beliefs lead to the philosophy of Agnosticism. "According to Hume, all sensations are unconnected, and any causal connection we make is in entirely in our minds. These connections are made only after we experience repeated conjunctions of events. Without the ability to understand the cause of the universe, we can never truly know anything about God." (Agnosticism)
Since the idea of Agnosticism is that we cannot truly prove nor disprove the existance of god, there are different opinions about the afterlife or what happens to our 'soul' when we die. There was also a quote that I found interesting from Marcus Aurelius, "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid." (Quotations. Etymology. History. Beliefs of Agnostics.) This quote shows that having an uncertainty of the exstance (or non-existance) of god will not affect us in a negative way when we die.
I realized how much of a challenge it would be to find someone agnostic that had more knowledge and time thinking about this belief. Instead, I ended up interviewing a college student in her 20's who would like to be kept anonymous. She considers herself an agnostic athiest, meaning she dosn't really believe in god but that does not mean that she is 100% sure that he does not exist. Though she does not believe in an afterlife or heavan, she considers herself agnostic because she feels as if there isn't enough evidence that either supports or not support these claims. When I asked her if it bothered her that she wasn't necessarily completely religous nor athiest, she said it didn't.
Sources:
*"Agnosticism." Philosophy. AllAboutPhilosophy.org, 2011. Web. 10 May 2011.
*Jones, Kyle. "An Agnostic Theology (2010)." the Secular Web. Internet Infidels, 2010. Web. 10 May 2011.
*Robinson, B.A. "Quotations. Etymology.." Religous Tolerance.ORG. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 28 Dec 2009. Web. 10 May 2011.
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