Agnosticism - the philosophical argument that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not - has been the point of view of many distinguished thinkers from the 19th century to the present. In contrast to atheism, which asserts that God does not exist, agnosticism holds that reason and the best scientific evidence do not allow one to reach a decisive conclusion regarding the existence of God. This reader prints selections of some of the most profound and pioneering discussions of agnosticism over the past two centuries. Beginning with early formulations of the agnostic perspective by Thomas Henry Huxley (who coined the term), Bertrand Russell, and others, editor S. T. Joshi shows how agnosticism received a strong boost in the later 19th century from the so-called higher criticism of the Bible. Selections from Edward Burnett Tylor, Arthur Schopenhauer, Robert G. Ingersoll, and Edward Westermarck made a strong case that religion was a natural product of primitive development and that the Bible was the product of an age of scientific ignorance and superstition. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Christianity in Europe was in a state of decline among the intellectual classes. The writings of W. E. H. Leckey, Leslie Stephen, and Walter Lippmann show that leading commentators were openly pondering a European society in which Christianity was a thing of the past. The increasing success of the natural sciences during this same time period supported the agnostic viewpoint by accounting for phenomena on a natural, rather than a supernatural, basis. Selections from John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, and others demonstrate the scientific respectability of agnosticism. Finally, selections from such thinkers as Frederic Harrison, H. L. Mencken, and Corliss Lamont emphasise how living with agnosticism can be intellectually and morally satisfying, even exhilarating. Overall, "The Agnostic Reader" shows how agnosticism can provide a framework for living with courage and dignity.
S. T. Joshi is a freelance writer, scholar, and editor. His books include The Unbelievers: The Evolution of Modern Atheism; Documents of American Prejudice; In Her Place: A Documentary History of Prejudice against Women; God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong; Atheism: A Reader; H. L. Mencken on Religion; The Agnostic Reader; What Is Man? and Other Irreverent Essays by Mark Twain and The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong.
Part I: Some Overviews; Part II: The Critical Study of Religion; Part III: Agnosticism and Science; Part IV: The Deficiencies of Religion; Part V: Christianity in Decline; Part VI: The Agnostic Way of Life.
""With his usual knowing discernment, S. T. Joshi mines the literature of two centuries to distill a peerless overview of the agnostic stance. He presents agnosticism complete, in all of its many variants and as championed by its most eminent defenders. Like Joshi's reader on the closely related field of atheism, The Agnostic Reader squeezes between two covers the most brilliant writings devoted to this significant and controversial topic." Tom Flynn Editor of Free Inquiry magazine and The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief "The essays here, grouped under headings like 'Agnosticism and Science, ' 'The Deficiencies of Religion' and 'The Agnostic Way of Life, ' make persuasive arguments in favor of an anti-dogmatic acknowledgement that it is impossible to ever know the truth about matters concerning God and the soul ... [a] wonderful collection." Kirkus Reviews
