Cutting edge debate and talks from the world's leading thinkers, free for everyone

How to be Agnostic

Mark Vernon.

Watch this week's IaI top rated events
world hands environment
Thumbnail101
After Capitalism Talk
music notation
Join now or to join the conversation.
The Talk

Is there more to agnosticism than sitting on the fence? Philosopher, journalist, former priest and physicist Mark Vernon reveals how the agnostic spirit is a vital strand that runs through the fabric of belief - and indeed the best philosophy and science.

 

‘Thoughtful, accessible, lucid’ - Julian Baggini

Becoming Human
Bracha Ettinger, Griselda Pollock
The Myth of Being Happy
Richard Schoch
Why Society Drives You Mad
Richard Bentall
Embed
Rate this video:

Events to watch next

Join the conversation

Foodforthought on 27/03/2013 1:54pm

Some interesting comments here. It is certainly an interesting concept to have faith in something unknown, other, and to make it a skill or an art. I am reminded of an article I read today about meditation and how science has proven it to work in reducing stress and allowing clarity of thought and generally improving health and overall well being. It is certainly not a new idea, to focus our mind and energy in something other than ourselves in order to enhance ourselves - for thousands of years people have practised this in all manner of ways in different religions or cultures. So, in taking agnosticism out of the context of religion I see clear parallels with seemingly universal principles of looking outside ourselves - as well as looking within ourselves - to improve ourselves and, as Mark Vernon says, get a 'fuller life'. Maybe as Thoughtcentre says below we may even get closer to God in removing religious images? That is definitely food for thought...

Report spam

David Morey on 07/02/2013 8:04pm

Mark Vernon does a great deal to improve the quality of the debate about the relationship between science and religion.

Report spam

Thoughtcentre on 10/04/2012 10:51pm

Dionysius says that one can know God only when one comes to the moment when one knows nothing: the state of not-knowing is, in fact, the opening to enlightenment. By AGNOSIA he means what one of the most famous Upanishads, the KENOPANISHAD, says:
”It is conceived by him who conceives it not.
Who conceives it, knows it not.
It is not understood by those who understand it.
It is understood by those who understand it not.”
Surely those who claim knowledge of God... well, what do they have knowledge of? Surely whatever it is is not God... so it's taking them even farther from God - and just towards some image.

Report spam

Chris on 07/02/2012 10:11am

I like how Vernon takes the 'agnostic spirit' out of a purely religious context here and gives it a broader ethical dimension - 'commitment to the unknown leads to a fuller life'.

Whilst it seems problematic to flesh out a position that is based on 'not knowing', the notion that there can be a skill, or an art, to it is interesting.

Report spam

Copy and paste the code below to embed or link to this video.

Embed:
Embed options
Link:
  • Bold Text
    Example: [b]Bold[/b]
  • Italic Text
    Example: [i]Italic Text[/i]
  • Underlined Text
    Example: [u]Underlined[/u]
  • Struck-out Text
    Example: [s]Struck-out[/s]
  • Coloured text
    Example: [color=blue]blue text[/color]
  • Alignment
    Example: [align=right]right aligned[/align]
  • Code Block
    Unformatted code block
    Example: [code]Code block[/code]
  • Email link
    Create link to an email address
    Example: [email]you@yoursite.com[/email]
  • Email link
    Create link to an email address
    Example: [email=you@yoursite.com]Email[/email]
  • Unordered list
    Unordered list
    Example: [ulist][*]unordered item 1[/ulist]
  • Image
    Show an image in your post
    Example: [img]http://www.website.com/image.jpg[/img]
  • Website link
    Link to another website or URL
    Example: [url]http://www.website.com/[/url]
  • Website link
    Link to another website or URL
    Example: [url=http://www.website.com/]Website[/url]
  • Video Seek
    Converted to a link which jumps to that point in the video
    Example: 00:34

 

 

© 2013 Institute of Art and Ideas