Yesterday, The Atheist Missionary posted the following comment on my blog in which he declared his commitment to metaphysical agnosticism:
“Agnosticism with respect to metaphysical truths is not only the ‘smart’ position, it’s the only logical conclusion. That is why the only thing I believe with religious certainty is that there are dimensions, truths and reality which are beyond human comprehension.”
No doubt, some other folk will resonate with what they suppose to be the intellectual humility of this declaration. But there is nothing humble about this claim. Think about it. Here are some metaphysical claims:
- There is a world that exists external to the human mind.
- Human beings have free will.
- Objective morality exists.
- Human persons endure through time such that the person who is typing this sentence now is the same person who wrote the blog article that The Atheist Missionary replied to yesterday.
- Inorganic matter is not conscious.
According to The Atheist Missionary, the only logical position to take on any of these questions is agnosticism. That is an extraordinary claim. Like, seriously, I can’t reasonably believe that the person typing this present sentence is the same person who typed the first sentence of this article?
Why does The Atheist Missionary take such an extraordinary position? In his comment, he states it as a platitudinous declaration of unimpeachable epistemic wisdom. But it sure ain’t that.
Regardless, I would comment The Atheist Missionary should definitely revisit his branding because he is apparently “The Agnostic Missionary”. Next, he can consider how he could possibly missionize on behalf of this extraordinarily skeptical position.
