| atheism.davidrand.ca: Living Without Religion | |
|---|---|
| > Table of Contents | |
| > > Repertory H | |
| > > > Quotations Thomas Henry HUXLEY | |
|
Scientist, philosopher, skilled orator and great campaigner for the ideas of his contemporary, Charles Darwin. It was T. H. Huxley who coined the terms "Agnostic" and "Agnosticism" (the capitals are his) to describe the skeptical attitude which, in his opinion, should be adopted towards preconceived notions.
"...it is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what Agnosticism asserts; and, in my opinion, it is all that is essential to Agnosticism. That which Agnostics deny, and repudiate as immoral, is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory evidence; and that reprobation ought to attach to the profession of disbelief in such inadequately supported propositions."
Agnosticism and Christianity
"...it is asserted that I have no business calling myself an Agnostic; that, if I am not a Christian, I am an infidel; and that I ought to call myself by that name of 'unpleasant significance.' Well, I do not care much what I am called by other people, and if I had at my side all those who, since the Christian era, have been called infidels by other folks, I could not desire better company."
Agnosticism, 1889
"The dogma of the infallibility of the Bible is no more self-evident than is that of the infallibility of the Pope."
Naturalism and Supernaturalism, 1892
"...the doctrine of evolution at the present time [1876] rests upon exactly as secure a foundation as the Copernican theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies did at the time of its promulgation. Its logical basis is precisely of the same character--the coincidence of the observed facts with theoretical requirements."
Lectures on Evolution, 1876
Reference
| XHTML CSS |