Belief, Disbelief, and Denial: Disbelief is Not the Same as Denial Atheist Disbelief in Gods Isn't Always Denial of Gods

Belief, Disbelief, and Denial: Disbelief is Not the Same as Denial
Atheist Disbelief in Gods Isn't Always Denial of Gods

By Austin Cline, About.com Guide

Atheists who try to explain what atheism is and is not encounter significant hurdles created by the failure of so many people to understand basic terms like belief, disbelief, knowledge, and faith. Atheists can't expect people to truly comprehend how atheism is the absence of belief in gods if they don't understand how belief differs from knowledge or how disbelief differs from denial. Atheists who can explain these basic concepts may find it easier to have productive discussions with theists.


The Terms of Debate

What is Belief?1 A belief is the mental attitude that some proposition is true. For every given proposition, every person either has or lacks the mental attitude that it is true. Beliefs may be stronger or weaker, based on evidence or not, reasonable or irrational. Beliefs are a mental representation of the world around you — a belief about the world is the mental attitude that world is structured in some way rather than another. Beliefs are the foundation for action: if you believe something is true, you must be willing to act as if it were true; if you are unwilling to act as thought it were true, you can't really claim to believe it. This is why actions can matter much more than words.

What is Faith?2 Faith can be defined in religious contexts as a type of belief or as trust. Faith as belief is belief without evidence or knowledge. Christians using the term to describe their own beliefs are supposed to be using in the same was a Paul: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." [Hebrews 11:1] Faith as trust can be trusting that one is taught the truth or trusting that God will fulfill the promises made in the Bible.

What is Knowledge?3 Knowledge is a justified, true belief. To know something, the following three conditions must be true: you must believe it, it must be true, and your belief must be justified. A true belief that is not justified is not knowledge. A false belief that is very justified is not knowledge. Everything you know you necessarily also believe, but not knowing doesn't mean not believing — your belief simply doesn't rise to the state of knowledge.

What is Disbelief?4 Disbelief can be defined broadly as simply not believing or the absence of belief and narrowly as the rejection of belief. The broader sense of disbelief applies when someone lacks the mental attitude that some proposition is true for any reason — including ignorance of the proposition. The narrower sense applies when someone is aware of the proposition but is unable to form the mental attitude that it is true, for example not understanding it or not having enough evidence to accept it. By implication, a person who disbelieves in the narrower sense also disbelieves in the broader sense.

What is Denial? Denial is the positive assertion that some proposition is false and the contradictory is true. A person who denies a proposition does not believe it is true but does believe that the contradictory is true. They may or may not know that the original proposition is false; they may or may not know that the contradictory is true. By implication, a person who denies a proposition disbelieves the proposition in both the broader and narrower senses.


Applying the Concepts

Not Believing vs. Believing Not5: Many have trouble comprehending that "not believing X" doesn't mean the same as "believing not X." The placement of the negative is key: the first means not having the mental attitude that proposition X is true, the second means having the mental attitude that proposition X is false (or put another way, that the contradictory proposition is true). The difference here is between disbelief and denial: the first is disbelief in the broad or narrow sense whereas the second is denial.

What is Theism?6 Theism is the assertion that at least one god of some sort exists; it is the mental attitude that the proposition "at least one god exists" is true. It's not necessarily knowledge. It's not necessarily unwavering. It might be one god or many gods; it might be a personal or an impersonal god. Because there is no middle ground between the presence of a belief and the absence of a belief, everyone is either a theist or not.

What is Atheism?7 A-theism is the disbelief that at least one god exists; it is the absence of the mental attitude that the proposition "at least one god exists" is true. An atheist may claim to know that it is not true but they don't have to. An atheist may claim to know that some types of gods exist but not claim such knowledge about other gods. An atheist may disbelieve because of evidence and logic or because they were indoctrinated.

What is Agnosticism?8 Agnosticism is the absence of knowledge of whether any gods exist or not; an agnostic does not claim to know if the proposition "at least one god exists" is true or false. Because knowledge and belief are separate issues, a lack of knowledge is compatible with both belief and disbelief. An agnostic can believe without claiming to know or not believe without claiming to know. Because there is no middle ground between the presence or absence of knowledge, everyone is either an agnostic or not.