Are Atheist Skeptics?

[Jeremiahcp]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

 

[CogentPhilosopher]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

1) The word atheist is not capitalized like a proper noun.

2) Being an atheist does not inherently make you a skeptic and most atheists are not skeptics.

3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

1) The word atheist is not capitalized like a proper noun.

2) Being an atheist does not inherently make you a skeptic and most atheists are not skeptics.

3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

"The word atheist is not capitalized like a proper noun."

It is capitalized when it is part of a title.

 

[McBell]

3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

interesting.
I know a number of theists who are, as the OP defines skeptics, "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others.", when it comes to atheism.

In fact, there are many right here on RF.....

 

[CogentPhilosopher]

interesting.
I know a number of theists who are, as the OP defines skeptics, "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others.", when it comes to atheism.

In fact, there are many right here on RF.....

Holding skepticism to a negative position is redundant.

By that same logic you should be skeptical about lacking a belief in bigfoot or lacking a belief that the government is ran by mole people.

Unless they have some sort of evidence that the rest of the world is nor privy to then they would need to not be skeptical of the deity they believe in order to believe in it.

 

[McBell]

Holding skepticism to a negative position is redundant.

By that same logic you should be skeptical about lacking a belief in bigfoot or lacking a belief that the government is ran by mole people.

Unless they have some sort of evidence that the rest of the world is nor privy to then they would need to not be skeptical of the deity they believe in order to believe in it.

You will have to explain how this reply to my post is relevant to my post.

You claimed that all skeptics are atheists.
I showed that they are are not.

 

[CogentPhilosopher]

You will have to explain how this reply to my post is relevant to my post.

You claimed that all skeptics are atheists.
I showed that they are are not.

Holding skepticism to a negative position is redundant.

By that same logic you should be skeptical about lacking a belief in bigfoot or lacking a belief that the government is ran by mole people.

Unless they have some sort of evidence that the rest of the world is nor privy to then they would need to not be skeptical of the deity they believe in order to believe in it.

This is obviously relevant to your post. Please don't tell me you are a troll.

In case you don't understand basic logic, the default position to a claim is to not believe it and that is what a skeptic does. Therefore a skeptical theist could only exist if there where solid proof of their deity and so far academia has found none.

I claimed:
3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

You did not show anything you just claimed that they are.

 

[Shad]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

Only in relation to the question of God/gods. I know atheists that believe in ghosts, spirits and even one that thinks aliens talk to him. Skepticism they hold for God does not seem to apply to those views.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

1) The word atheist is not capitalized like a proper noun.

2) Being an atheist does not inherently make you a skeptic and most atheists are not skeptics.

3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

I think more pertinent is the idea that you can be a skeptic and still have any of a number of non-absolute positions. You have a conclusion but a large margin for error. Re:Agnostic theism.
And/Or you're a skeptic but have a definition of god(s) that does not require supernaturalism. Such as Spinozan.

I agree with #2 though.

 

[McBell]

This is obviously relevant to your post. Please don't tell me you are a troll.

In case you don't understand basic logic, the default position to a claim is to not believe it and that is what a skeptic does. Therefore a skeptical theist could only exist if there where solid proof of their deity and so far academia has found none.

I claimed:
3) Not all atheists are skeptics but all skeptics are atheists unless they had access to some information or experience outside of public access.

You did not show anything you just claimed that they are.

as I thought, you are not listening to what is being said and are replying to what you want instead.

it is not any fault of mine you are stuck on one side of the fence and are unable to see any other PoV.

Until such time as you address the point I actually presented...

 

[Jeremiahcp]

as I thought, you are not listening to what is being said and are replying to what you want instead.

it is not any fault of mine you are stuck on one side of the fence and are unable to see any other PoV.

Until such time as you address the point I actually presented...

"as I thought, you are not listening to what is being said and are replying to what you want instead."

Ya, I also noticed he has a tendency to do that.

 

[DanielR]

Michel de Montaigne was a sceptic and definately not an atheist

 

[Unveiled Artist]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

Some are sceptics others not. Its not related to atheism itself.

 

[columbus]

I would say the theological lack of beliefs a nontheist has correlates to a more skeptical attitude towards most everything else. But there's no causative relationship and people vary hugely.
Tom

 

[Kilgore Trout]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

I would say your chosen definition of 'skeptic' has no relation to atheism in general. This type of ordinary usage connotation can apply to anyone, and is more of a general, doubting personality type.

However, 'skeptics' in regards to the philosophical connotation of skepticism being "a mode of inquiry that emphasizes critical scrutiny, caution, and intellectual rigor," do tend to be atheists, as atheism is a general conclusion resulting from such an approach regarding knowledge.

Of course, all atheists are not skeptics of this variety either, as people can identify as atheists for a whole range of reasons and motivations.

It's good that you defined your terms, as this is rare occurrence with most people, which, inevitably, results in nothing but arguing over semantics while people talk past each other. Of course, I would say that the second usage of skepticism is what people are usually talking about when it comes to religious belief and atheism.

 

[paarsurrey]

Are Atheist Skeptics?

Atheism and Skepticism are denominations of one another, unless of course they deny.
Regards

 

[icehorse]

For the purpose of this conversation we'll define skeptic as: "a person who maintains a doubting attitude, as toward values, plans,statements, or the character of others."

So are atheist skeptics? (Not necessarily in relation to God(s) but in general.)

I'm often a skeptic, and I don't like your definition

 

[Jeremiahcp]

I'm often a skeptic, and I don't like your definition

I pulled that out of dictionary. I just felt the need to narrow it because skeptic in the dictionary can also mean one that doubts God.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Debates are fun; when I don't define things people complain, when I do define things people complain.

 

[icehorse]

I pulled that out of dictionary. I just felt the need to narrow it because skeptic in the dictionary can also mean one that doubts God.

I'm mostly skeptical concerning claims. I wouldn't say I'm particularly skeptical about other people's characters or values. Although I often think people haven't really gotten in touch with their values.

But back to the OP... I usually associate skepticism with critical thinking, and it seems to me that from the perspective of critical thinking, it's pretty natural to be skeptical of ideologies built on unfalsifiable claims, e.g. the existence of a supernatural being that created the universe.