AmIAnAtheistOrAnAgnostic?

APleaForToleranceInTheFaceOfNewDogmas

byBertrandRussell(1947)

IspeakasonewhowasintendedbymyfathertobebroughtupasaRationalist.Hewas
quiteasmuchofaRationalistasIam,buthediedwhenIwasthreeyearsold,andthe
CourtofChancerydecidedthatIwastohavethebenefitsofaChristianeducation.

IthinkperhapstheCourtofChancerymighthaveregrettedthatsince.Itdoesnotseem
tohavedoneasmuchgoodastheyhoped.Perhapsyoumaysaythatitwouldberather
apityifChristianeducationweretocease,becauseyouwouldthengetnomore
Rationalists.

Theyarisechieflyoutofreactiontoasystemofeducationwhichconsidersitquiteright
thatafathershoulddecreethathissonshouldbebroughtupasaMuggletonian,wewill
say,orbroughtuponanyotherkindofnonsense,buthemustonnoaccountbe
broughtuptothinkrationally.WhenIwasyoungthatwasconsideredtobeillegal.

SinAndTheBishops

SinceIbecameaRationalistIhavefoundthatthereisstillconsiderablescopeinthe
worldforthepracticalimportanceofarationalistoutlook,notonlyinmattersof
geology,butinallsortsofpracticalmatters,suchasdivorceandbirthcontrol,anda
questionwhichhascomeupquiterecently,artificialinsemination,wherebishopstellus
thatsomethingisgravelysinful,butitisonlygravelysinfulbecausethereissometextin
theBibleaboutit.Itisnotgravelysinfulbecauseitdoesanybodyharm,andthatisnot
theargument.Aslongasyoucansay,andaslongasyoucanpersuadeParliamenttogo
onsaying,thatathingmustnotbedonesolelybecausethereissometextintheBible
aboutit,solongobviouslythereisgreatneedofRationalisminpractice.

Asyoumayknow,IgotintogreattroubleintheUnitedStatessolelybecause,onsome
practicalissues,IconsideredthattheethicaladvicegivenintheBiblewasnot
conclusive,andthatonsomepointsoneshouldactdifferentlyfromwhattheBiblesays.
OnthisgrounditwasdecreedbyaLawCourtthatIwasnotafitpersontoteachinany
universityintheUnitedStates,sothatIhavesomepracticalgroundforpreferring
Rationalismtootheroutlooks.

Don'tBeTooCertain!

ThequestionofhowtodefineRationalismisnotaltogetheraneasyone.Idonotthink
thatyoucoulddefineitbyrejectionofthisorthatChristiandogma.Itwouldbe
perfectlypossibletobeacompleteandabsoluteRationalistinthetruesenseofthe
termandyetacceptthisorthatdogma.

Thequestionishowtoarriveatyouropinionsandnotwhatyouropinionsare.Thething
inwhichwebelieveisthesupremacyofreason.Ifreasonshouldleadyoutoorthodox
conclusions,wellandgood;youarestillaRationalist.Tomymindtheessentialthingis
thatoneshouldbaseone'sargumentsuponthekindofgroundsthatareacceptedin
science,andoneshouldnotregardanythingthatoneacceptsasquitecertain,butonly
asprobableinagreateroralessdegree.Nottobeabsolutelycertainis,Ithink,oneof
theessentialthingsinrationality.

ProofofGod

Heretherecomesapracticalquestionwhichhasoftentroubledme.WheneverIgointo
aforeigncountryoraprisonoranysimilarplacetheyalwaysaskmewhatismyreligion.

IneverknowwhetherIshouldsay"Agnostic"orwhetherIshouldsay"Atheist".Itisa
verydifficultquestionandIdaresaythatsomeofyouhavebeentroubledbyit.Asa
philosopher,ifIwerespeakingtoapurelyphilosophicaudienceIshouldsaythatIought
todescribemyselfasanAgnostic,becauseIdonotthinkthatthereisaconclusive
argumentbywhichoneprovethatthereisnotaGod.
Ontheotherhand,ifIamtoconveytherightimpressiontotheordinarymaninthe
streetIthinkIoughttosaythatIamanAtheist,becausewhenIsaythatIcannotprove
thatthereisnotaGod,IoughttoaddequallythatIcannotprovethattherearenotthe
Homericgods.

Noneofuswouldseriouslyconsiderthepossibilitythatallthegodsofhomerreally
exist,andyetifyouweretosettoworktogivealogicaldemonstrationthatZeus,Hera,
Poseidon,andtherestofthemdidnotexistyouwouldfinditanawfuljob.Youcould
notgetsuchproof.

Therefore,inregardtotheOlympicgods,speakingtoapurelyphilosophicalaudience,I
wouldsaythatIamanAgnostic.Butspeakingpopularly,Ithinkthatallofuswouldsay
inregardtothosegodsthatwewereAtheists.InregardtotheChristianGod,Ishould,I
think,takeexactlythesameline.

Skepticism

Thereisexactlythesamedegreeofpossibilityandlikelihoodoftheexistenceofthe
ChristianGodasthereisoftheexistenceoftheHomericGod.Icannotprovethateither
theChristianGodortheHomericgodsdonotexist,butIdonotthinkthattheir
existenceisanalternativethatissufficientlyprobabletobeworthserious
consideration.Therefore,Isupposethatthatonthesedocumentsthattheysubmitto
meontheseoccasionsIoughttosay"Atheist",althoughithasbeenaverydifficult
problem,andsometimesIhavesaidoneandsometimestheotherwithoutanyclear
principlebywhichtogo.

Whenoneadmitsthatnothingiscertainonemust,Ithink,alsoadmitthatsomethings
aremuchmorenearlycertainthanothers.Itismuchmorenearlycertainthatweare
assembledheretonightthanitisthatthisorthatpoliticalpartyisintheright.Certainly
therearedegreesofcertainty,andoneshouldbeverycarefultoemphasizethatfact,
becauseotherwiseoneislandedinanutterskepticism,andcompleteskepticismwould,
ofcourse,betotallybarrenandcompletelyuseless.

Persecution

Onmustrememberthatsomethingsareverymuchmoreprobablethanothersand
maybesoprobablethatitisnotworthwhiletorememberinpracticethattheyarenot
whollycertain,exceptwhenitcomestoquestionsofpersecution.

Ifitcomestoburningsomebodyatthestakefornotbelievingit,thenitisworthwhile
torememberthatafterallhemayberight,anditisnotworthwhiletopersecutehim.

Ingeneral,ifamansays,forinstance,thattheearthisflat,Iamquitewillingthathe
shouldpropagatehisopinionashardashelikes.Hemay,ofcourse,berightbutIdonot
thinkheis.Inpracticeyouwill,Ithink,dobettertoassumethattheearthisround,
although,ofcourse,youmaybemistaken.Therefore,Idonotthinkweshouldgoinfor
completeskepticism,butforadoctrineofdegreesofprobability.

Ithinkthat,onthewhole,thatisthekindofdoctrinethattheworldneeds.Theworld
hasbecomeveryfullofnewdogmas.heolddogmashaveperhapsdecayed,butnew
dogmashavearisenand,onthewhole,Ithinkthatadogmaisharmfulinproportionto
itsnovelty.Newdogmasaremuchworsethatoldones.

byBertrandRussell