Weak and strong atheism

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A chart showing the relationship between the definitions of weak/strong and implicit/explicit atheism. An implicit atheist has not thought about belief in gods; such an individual would be described as implicitly without a belief in gods. An explicit atheist has made an assertion regarding belief in gods; such an individual may eschew belief in gods (weak atheism), or affirm that gods do not exist (strong atheism).

Strong atheism is a term generally used to describe atheists who accept as true the proposition, "gods do not exist". Weak atheism refers to any type of non-theism which falls short of this standard. Because of flexibility in the term "god", it is understood that a person could be a strong atheist in terms of certain portrayals of gods, while remaining a weak atheist in terms of others. Historically, the terms negative and positive atheism have been used to denote this distinction. Within negative or weak atheism, philosopher Anthony Kenny distinguishes between agnostics, who find the claim "God exists" uncertain, and theological noncognitivists, who consider all God-talk to be meaningless.^[1]

Since many self-described agnostics specifically distinguish their stance from that of atheists, yet would also fit the general definition of "weak atheism," the validity of this categorisation is disputed. Another problem is whether "strong" atheists must consider themselves able to prove authoritatively that a god does not exist, or rather, if they must only disbelieve in such a god in order to qualify. Prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins avoid the strong/weak distinction. In The God Delusion Dawkins describes people for whom the probability of the existence of God is between "very high" and "very low" as "agnostic" and reserves the term "strong atheist" for "I know there is no god". He categorises himself as a "de facto atheist" but not a "Strong Atheist".^[2]

The strong and weak names did not come into common usage until the early 1990s, their popularization assisted by their common usage in the alt.atheism Usenet group at the time. While the terms themselves are relatively recent, the concepts they represent have been in use for some time. In earlier philosophical publications, the terms negative atheism and positive atheism were more common; these terms were used by Antony Flew in 1972, although Jacques Maritain used the phrases in a similar, but strictly Catholic apologist, context as early as 1949.^[3]

Atheists and agnostics generally suggest that when proposing a theory - such as that a god or gods exist(s) - the burden of proof is on the proposer.^[4] That is, for example, someone who proposes a god has the burden to prove that there is one. It does not fall upon others to prove that there is not one. Christian and other Theist philosophers generally suggest that the notion of proof implicit in this view is simplistic, and that most of the basic beliefs that people have about the world (such as the existence of other minds, or the existence of the past)^[5] cannot be "proven" in the face of determined scepticism, but are nevertheless rational to hold.^[6]

^ Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Worshipping an Unknown God". Ratio 19 (4): 442.
^ The God Delusion pp50-51
^ Maritain, Jacques (July 1949). "On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism". The Review of Politics 11 (3): 267-280.
^ Flew, Antony (1984). The Presumption of Atheism. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
^ See eg Alvin Plantinga esp his god and other Minds
^ see eg Keith Ward's Is Religion Dangerous?

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Atheism	List of atheists · Demographics · Religion · History · State atheism · Criticism · Discrimination · Persecution · Weak and strong · Agnostic atheism · Implicit and explicit · Antitheism · Antireligion · Atheist Alliance International	Ludwig Feuerbach
Agnosticism	List of agnostics · Agnostic theism · Agnostic atheism · Weak agnosticism · Strong agnosticism · Ignosticism · Apatheism
Nontheism	Secular Humanism · Freethought · Secularism · Criticism of religion · Freedom From Religion Foundation · Brights movement · Flying Spaghetti Monster · Invisible Pink Unicorn · Russell's teapot