It seems that definitions of atheism or atheist most often characterize these terms as entailing a positive belief regarding the nonexistence or disbelief or position regarding the existence of a God or deities.
Atheism:
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.
the definition of atheism
Atheist:
1. a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
the definition of atheist
Atheism:
1a : a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods
b : a philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods
Definition of ATHEISM
Atheism, in general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings. As such, it is usually distinguished from theism, which affirms the reality of the divine and often seeks to demonstrate its existence. Atheism is also distinguished from agnosticism, which leaves open the question whether there is a god or not, professing to find the questions unanswered or unanswerable.
atheism | Definition, Philosophy, & Comparison to Agnosticism
Yet I've known people who've insisted that atheism is a mere lack of belief regarding the existence of God--as would be consistent with the first part of the Merriam-Webster 1a definition. The problem with this is that it makes atheism indistinguishable from agnosticism, which the Encyclopedia Britannica advises against.
Agnostic:
3. a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic:
Socrates was an agnostic on the subject of immortality.
the definition of agnostic
Oddly the Wikipedia article on atheism begins by classifying 3 definitions of atheism according to “breadth”:
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities.[1][2][3][4] Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist.[5][6] In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[1][2][7][8]
Atheism - Wikipedia
It seems to me that the writer(s) got the order of the “breadth” scheme exactly backwards. Obviously a person expressing the first sentence would be speaking of only his/her personal belief, whereas someone expressing the last sentence would be making an emphatic claim about the nature of reality.
So what version of atheism do you hold? Is your version of atheism distinguishable from agnosticism? And, if your atheism is in fact distinguishable from agnosticism, can you describe in some detail what proposition you reject? I.e., describe what it is that you disbelieve.
