What is meant by the term "agnostic atheist"?

As an agnostic atheist myself, I cannot prove there is no god, so I will not deny the existence of a god, but I will live my life as of there is not one. I disbelieve in god but I do not claim there is no god.

There are multiple ways of viewing the beliefs of an agnostic atheist. Some may lean more to one side than the other. Personally I consider myself more atheistic than agnostic. Some people prefer the term atheistic agnostic, implying they are more agnostic than atheistic.

Agnostic from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-), meaning "without", and γνῶσις (gnōsis), meaning "knowledge" was first used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 Where he said he created the word to mean the following;

"Agnosticism is not a creed but a method, the essence of which lies in the vigorous application of a single principle... Positively the principle may be expressed as in matters of intellect, do not pretend conclusions are certain that are not demonstrated or demonstrable."

Whereas the word atheist is more than two thousand years old, having been used in ancient Greece where the adjective atheos (ἄθεος, from the privative ἀ- + θεός "god") meant "godless". It was first used as a term of censure roughly meaning "ungodly" or "impious".

In the 5th century BCE, the word began to indicate more deliberate and active godlessness in the sense of "severing relations with the gods" or "denying the gods". The term ἀσεβής (asebēs) then came to be applied against those who impiously denied or disrespected the local gods, even if they believed in other gods.

Modern translations of classical texts sometimes render atheos as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also ἀθεότης (atheotēs), "atheism". Cicero transliterated the Greek word into the Latin atheos. The term found frequent use in the debate between early Christians and Hellenists, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.

People like Nick and La is Burning are right. I know there are more of you. If I could rate comments I would give you guys 1 up and all others down. I hate you guys who say that the term is made up or that people who use it lack education. **** you you lack education. It's someone who doesn't believe in god but cannot prove inexistance

Simply put:

Agnosticism - position on knowledge

Atheism - position on belief

Agnosticism states that no one can KNOW if a deity exists

Atheism states that one lacks a belief in a deity

The term is not mutually exclusive. Being an agnostic doesn't necessarily mean that you're open to the idea of god, it just means that you accept that it's impossible to know one way or the other. It also does not mean that you're sitting on the fence or undecided.

"By my understanding an agnostic is open to the idea of a God, but can't be certain whereas an atheist is against the idea entirely."

Agnostic thinks he hasn't got enough knowledge to make a decision whether gods exist or not - an atheist has no belief in gods .

Atheists are NOT against the idea of gods - produce one and we're in ;)

What's an "agnostic atheist"?

Who knows?

Prolly someone who isn't happy 'just being an atheist'.

~

An Atheist lacks belief in a deity.

An theist does believe there is a deity.

An agnostic does not believe there is evidence one way or the other, therefore finds it pointless to talk about since the idea of a deity, if existent, would be beyond our comprehension.

An agnostic atheist, is an agnostic, personally believes there is no deity.

In other words, they already have their opinion on a deity, but still hold the agnostic philosophy.

An atheist is not always "against" religion. They simply have no belief in a deity... Just take the stance that they do not know... And some would say that it is unknowable... an Agnostic athiest takes the default atheistic "no god" perspective, but will admit to not knowing, or is much more open to non-materialistic conversations than most standard atheists

Agnostic atheist is double jeopardy !!!

I am technically an agnostic, though I side with atheists because I don't deny the evidence provided by prehistorical/historical discoveries. So I am an agnostic when it comes to the existence of god or gods in the same sense that I am an agnostic when it comes to dragons, zombies, and unicorns.

I’m an agnostic atheist.

You’re agnostic if you understand that we can’t know for certain if god\gods do or do not exist.

You’re atheist if you think that they don’t.

I am both of these things. I don’t believe that any deities exist, but I know that we can’t know for certain. Therefore: Agnostic atheist.

Agnosticism, as you correctly summarised, is being open to the idea of God existing or not existing but accepting that it is impossible to know for certain.

Atheism is the belief that there is no God. These two ideas seem like they can't intersect but they can. The key element of agnosticism is the belief that there can be no proof to God, not the openness to the idea.

An agnostic atheists, therefore, is someone who thinks that God doesn't exist but admits that they cant't be certain and they can't prove it.