Comments on: House, Episode 5 (Season 1): “Damned If You Do” — A Re-Review

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:46:16 +0000

@S-Zan

> It must therefore be true that one cannot be both agnostic and atheistic at the same time

You missed the fundamental difference between the two terms. One is about knowing, while the other is about believing. Whether you believe in a god or not, you can acknowledge that you don’t really know for sure. Hence, there are such things as an “agnostic theist” and an “agnostic atheist”.

I don’t think there was a problem with the way Foreman used the word ‘agnostic’. There’s not enough information to determine whether he fully understands it. Cameron states her lack of belief, and Foreman’s question probes for the rationality behind that belief. Cameron could then say “fine, there’s a chance that a god could be out there, but I still don’t believe in it at all”.

By: jo

jo — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:06:51 +0000

PLEASE Don’t confuse IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) with IBD (inflammatoy bowel disease) – they are very seperate and IBD is very much worse than IBS. I know because I have it.

I got it when I gave up smoking. I have not had a cigarette for nearly four years and don’t miss it at all much of the time…but sometimes, when the pain hits and I have to deal with such a horrible illness, I often think about starting again just to get rid of it!

By: guy who knows that he is talking about

guy who knows that he is talking about — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:12:49 +0000

agnostic can be used by itself to indicate:
“god may or may not exist in any form(s)”
(being completely neutral )

“i dont think its possible to know if god exists”
(officially stated by a former rabbi who became mascot of this viewpoint)

agnostic can be used in conjusntion to indicate:
“not being 100% sure of your religion”

By: MPG

MPG — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:35:43 +0000

Flyndaran, I do believe you are making stuff up. There’s already a term for your position, and it’s “strong atheism”. Don’t pretend for a second anyone else uses a capital letter to make the distinction – it’s just plain confusing.

By: Flyndaran

Flyndaran — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:24:01 +0000

There’s a difference between Atheism and atheism.
The first is a usually firmly held belief that there is no god.
The second is a lack of belief in a god which can coincide with agnosticism of a kind “I think but am not sure” sort.
It’s a subtle but very importance difference. I’ve known a couple of atheists, but I’m the only Atheist of the gorup.
I use the word “god” just I would use the word “unicorn” or “magic”.

By: S-Zan

S-Zan — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:06:42 +0000

As there have been several references to the accurate definitions of ‘agnostic’ and ‘atheist’ (which is a derivative noun of the noun Atheism), I pulled out my trusty Oxford English Dictionary, and can quote the following:

Agnostic: (noun) a person who believes that one cannot know whether or not God exists

Atheism: (noun) the belief that God does not exist . Origin from Greek ‘atheos’ (a- ‘without’, theos – ‘god’)

It must therefore be true that one cannot be both agnostic and atheistic at the same time, as the agnostic believes that it cannot be asserted that God doesn’t exist, whilst the atheist opposingly believes assertively that God doesn’t exist.

By: architorture

architorture — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:34:35 +0000

(Not a doctor – excuse the ignorance). I see a lot of references here to IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome). The patient had inflammatory bowel disease, right? So the question is whether cigarettes are good for IBD, not all forms of IBS, right?

By: Bion

Bion — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:26:42 +0000

@Bekll

Many atheists still use the term “God” in daily life because of exposure to it in daily life. It’s an example of culture-speak; speech is a group phenomenon, and as such, often transfers from person to person.

By: Rickard

Rickard — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:06:39 +0000

… hmm funny, I meant, of course, a good start … it is late here in Sweden and I have insomnia :) And I am not lieing

By: Rickard

Rickard — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:05:26 +0000

Atheism and agnosticism is highly ambigiuos terms.

A god start,

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/

I have noticed that theists and atheist both wants to claim unique alligance with the agnostic.

Why House should lack belief in God didn´t come out well – it was probably something like the problem of evil.

It seems strange, to me, at least, that an atheist shouldn´t even be alowed to use the word God, how else could he state the view that he doesn´t believe in God?

Another point, some theists would also hold the principle of sufficient reason true so…