What does agnostic mean?
An agnostic holds that the existence or nature of a deity is unknown, unknowable, or not established by the available evidence. The term concerns knowledge: it describes a person's answer to “What can we know?” rather than prescribing one answer to “What should we believe?”
Agnostics do not all think alike. Some regard the question as permanently beyond human knowledge. Others simply remain unconvinced while accepting that future evidence could change their view. Still others use the term to communicate humility about metaphysical claims.
A useful distinction
Theism and atheism concern belief. Agnosticism concerns knowledge or certainty. For that reason, a person may describe themselves as an agnostic theist, an agnostic atheist, or simply agnostic.
Agnosticism, atheism and theism
These labels overlap in everyday speech, so definitions matter. A theist believes that at least one deity exists. “Atheist” may refer broadly to someone who lacks belief in deities, or more narrowly to someone who asserts that no deity exists. An agnostic does not claim sufficient knowledge to settle the question.
- Agnostic theism: belief in a deity without claiming certain knowledge.
- Agnostic atheism: no current belief in a deity, combined with no claim that nonexistence has been proved.
- Strong atheism: an affirmative position that no deities exist.
- Open agnosticism: suspension of judgment while treating the issue as potentially answerable.
- Strict agnosticism: the view that the question cannot be answered by human beings.
Individuals may use these terms differently. Respectful discussion therefore begins by asking what a label means to the person using it.
History and philosophical context
The word “agnostic” was introduced in the nineteenth century, but uncertainty about divine claims is much older. Philosophers in several cultures have questioned whether metaphysical realities can be known, whether testimony is sufficient evidence, and where human reasoning reaches its limits.
Bertrand Russell later explained that he regarded “agnostic” as the philosophically careful label for his position while behaving as an atheist in practical life. His comparison illustrated a broader point: a claim can be impossible to disprove conclusively yet still be regarded as very unlikely. This page paraphrases that historical argument rather than treating it as a universal definition of agnosticism.
Community and practice
Agnosticism does not determine a person's ethics, rituals or community life. Some agnostics participate in religious congregations for family, culture, fellowship or spiritual practice. Others find community in Humanist, Ethical Culture or Unitarian Universalist settings. Many do not join any organized group.
Likewise, agnostics may ground morality in empathy, consequences, duties, human rights, religious traditions or combinations of these approaches. Uncertainty about gods does not by itself imply uncertainty about every ethical question.
How common is agnosticism?
There is no single dependable percentage. Surveys obtain different results depending on whether they ask about identity, belief, certainty, affiliation or religious practice. “Unaffiliated,” “nothing in particular,” “atheist” and “agnostic” are not interchangeable categories.
Historical U.S. surveys reported growth in religiously unaffiliated adults between 2007 and 2015. Those figures remain useful as an archival snapshot, but they should not be presented as a current count in 2026. They also included many people who believed in a deity or considered themselves spiritual.
Indirect polling methods have sometimes produced higher estimates of nonbelief than direct identity questions. Such results depend on sampling and methodology; they do not establish that every religiously unaffiliated respondent is agnostic.