Are Atheist Skeptics?

[Quintessence]

Nothing about atheism (or theism for that matter) inherently involves skepticism as defined in the OP.

Agnosticism, on the other hand...

 

[Enoch07]

Anyone can be a skeptic regardless of whether they believe in a religion/god/whatevs or not. In my opinion a skeptic is anyone who refuses to accept an idea at face value initially. They then learn about it, explore their own ideas or feelings about it, then formulate an opinion. It's a good way to be in this crazy modern world of misinformation and deceit.

 

[corynski]

Are atheists skeptics? Is a pig's *** pork?

 

[AutumnWitch]

I find many of them are. Oddly, I also find many Christians are even more so with subjects outside of their religion.

 

[columbus]

I find many of them are. Oddly, I also find many Christians are even more so with subjects outside of their religion.

I think that is exactly what the OP definitions were saying. Similarly @CogentPhilosopher 's video.
Everybody is a skeptic. Some more so than others and especially about different things. That's why religions so commonly rely on heavy duty and sophisticated techniques to keep the flock together.
Tom

 

[corynski]

If you reach a realization that anyone and everyone is lying to you, consciously or unconsciously, how can you not be skeptical? Our minds are too small, the world is too large, I guess would summarize what I see. We know so little, but want to know it all. The perspective from age 79 is stunning .... I've spent a lifetime of effort thinking I could really understand everything around me. But all I have is everyone's guess, and no one can really agree on much. Curious, indeed........

 

[Enoch07]

I think that is exactly what the OP definitions were saying. Similarly @CogentPhilosopher 's video.
Everybody is a skeptic. Some more so than others and especially about different things. That's why religions so commonly rely on heavy duty and sophisticated techniques to keep the flock together.
Tom

I have to disagree with you there. More people are gullible now than ever. With all the crazy stuff going on in the world people are quick to cling on to something to help them cope. They dont question near enough. They find something that makes them feel warm and fuzzy then dive in head first. Sure for some its religion, but others its various idealogies, drugs, alchohol, and other pleasures of the flesh. Rarely does anyone stop and question anything nowadays.

 

[dianaiad]

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, some aren't. Everybody is skeptical about something. Being an atheist isn't the same thing as being skeptical even about whether there is a deity. I've known some who weren't a bit skeptical in their opinions. They know there isn't one, and no skeptical inquiry into that lack of belief is entertained.

However, he might well swallow any and every conspiracy theory regarding ancient aliens there is. A theist may well be skeptical...ever met a classically trained Jesuit?

Skepticism is a state of mind; an approach to discovery and examination, not a statement of religious opinion.

Shoot, one of the most frustrating students I EVER had claimed to be a rock hard atheist....but boy, would he swallow any and everything he read on the internet. (sigh)

 

[Spideymon77]

Everyone's a skeptic to some degree. Unless you spread your *** cheeks to ever idea you come across, you are, by definition, a skeptic.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Nothing about atheism (or theism for that matter) inherently involves skepticism as defined in the OP.

Agnosticism, on the other hand...

I have never seen any evidence to suggest that agnostics necessarily hold the same function of doubt in a generalize sense as they do in relation to God. I have see agnostics that are so vehement about their position it reflects similarly passionate atheists and theists.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Everyone's a skeptic to some degree. Unless you spread your *** cheeks to ever idea you come across, you are, by definition, a skeptic.

"Everyone's a skeptic to some degree."

I doubt that.

 

[Spideymon77]

I doubt that.

Why's that?

 

[Dave Smith]

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.

No that's not correct, a skeptic is someone who requires evidence to change his (or her) currently standing view, so if there is no evidence to his satisfaction then he will doubt the veracity of a statement, that does not mean skeptic are doubters by definition or default. They doubt because of convincing evidence, what type and level of convinces a person is entirely their choice and related to the risk of accepting the evidence for a contrary view. Therefore skeptical does not define atheist or theist, it only says that they require a level of evidence to change their view

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

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.

A better explanation of the term "skeptic":

To quote Dr. Shermer: Skepticism is not a position; it's a process.

The popular misconception is that skeptics, or critical thinkers, are people who disbelieve things. And indeed, the common usage of the word skeptical supports this: "He was skeptical of the numbers in the spreadsheet", meaning he doubted their validity. To be skeptical, therefore, is to be negative about things and doubt or disbelieve them.

The true meaning of the word skepticism has nothing to do with doubt, disbelief, or negativity. Skepticism is the process of applying reason and critical thinking to determine validity. It's the process of finding a supported conclusion, not the justification of a preconceived conclusion.

By that meaning of "skeptic", many atheists are not skeptics.

It also seems to me that skepticism - applied properly and consistently - results in atheism... except possibly for any skeptics who are privy to some compelling set of evidence that most of us aren't.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No that's not correct, a skeptic is someone who requires evidence to change his (or her) currently standing view, so if there is no evidence to his satisfaction then he will doubt the veracity of a statement, that does not mean skeptic are doubters by definition or default. They doubt because of convincing evidence, what type and level of convinces a person is entirely their choice and related to the risk of accepting the evidence for a contrary view. Therefore skeptical does not define atheist or theist, it only says that they require a level of evidence to change their view

Skepticism is about a process, not a conclusion, but we can come to conclusions about what a skeptical position would be about some claim, given some set of evidence.

Yes, in a theoretical sense, we can say that if we were presented with enough evidence for Bigfoot, God, or homeopathy, a skeptical approach would accept these claims. However, we can also say that we haven't been presented with enough evidence so far.

So I think it's a bit misleading to say that skepticism can be compatible with theism. It may be true in the sense that we can't say what evidence will be uncovered in future, and that we can't evaluate some weird form of theism that we haven't even considered, but I think that many people will hear it and take it to mean that the beliefs of an average church-goer today, whose god-claims have been evaluated to death and found to be insufficiently supported, are consistent with skepticism. They aren't.

 

[Robert Landbeck]

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.)

This is where language gets slippery. And there are certainly hard and soft skeptics as there are hard and soft atheists. Which ever on might be, there is no alternative but to hold to some conception of knowledge. And that ground is shifting all the time. An atheist that holds to scientific principles must allow for new knowledge to replace old. Which means rethinking one position on any matter when the facts change. Of course that requires honesty and critical self scrutiny that many find difficult at the best of times. When matters of historical concern remain unresolved, differing parties may fall into an institutional confirmation bias, a status quo that ultimately must crash, usually by new discovery. So being a skeptic, about any particular subject at any particular time should only be a temporary affair until knowledge moves on and experience deems it to be trustworthy. Otherwise we become just prisoners of our own ignorance and prejudice.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Nothing about atheism (or theism for that matter) inherently involves skepticism as defined in the OP.

Agnosticism, on the other hand...

Huxley originally defined agnosticism in a way that it was pretty much skepticism.

Howe

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Why's that?

It was a joke.

 

[McBell]

to the thread in general:

what I do not understand is why so many people are unable to answer the OP within the parameters the OP set up.

Seems that there are some replies that amount to :

I do not like question in the OP so i will change the question to one I do like and reply to that question instead.​

 

[CogentPhilosopher]

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.

That's actually a fair argument. Though to be frank natural pantheism to me is no different than atheism.