Are the terms atheist and agnostic mutually exclusive?

[McCulloch]

The two [atheist and agnostic] are not mutually exclusive.

Agnostics and atheists hold different positions, that’s why the two terms exist in the first place.

Are the terms atheist and agnostic mutually exclusive? What precisely do each of these terms currently mean?

[Mr.Badham]

The two [atheist and agnostic] are not mutually exclusive.

Agnostics and atheists hold different positions, that’s why the two terms exist in the first place.

Are the terms atheist and agnostic mutually exclusive? What precisely do each of these terms currently mean?

Here's my personal take on it, I don't really care what the dictionaries say;

I'm an atheist cause I don't believe in god.
I'm an atheist cause I don't believe in your belief in god.
I believe your belief in god is incorrect .
I'm not agnostic cause I believe the only reason to believe in god is incorrect.

[SkyChief]

Everyone alive - or has ever lived - is agnostic, at least to some degree. Those who claim to "know" god really don't. They just think they do. They are every much agnostic as an Atheist who claims there is no god(s). Even the Pope is agnostic. But don't tell him I said that - he would be offended and that's not my intention! Richard Dawkins is agnostic! He even conceded that fact in his book The God Delusion.

[Peter]

The two [atheist and agnostic] are not mutually exclusive.

Agnostics and atheists hold different positions, that’s why the two terms exist in the first place.

Are the terms atheist and agnostic mutually exclusive? What precisely do each of these terms currently mean?

I am both. I am an Atheist with respect to all man made gods but Agnostic on the existence of gods. Only a fool would declare that no gods exist anywhere, anytime.

I am confident that if a god exists and desires my worship they will let me know.

[wiploc]

‘Atheism’ means the negation of theism, the denial of the existence of God.

I followed your link. Did you hope we wouldn't?

While I don't find what you wrote, I do find this:

While identifying atheism with the metaphysical claim that there is no God (or that there are no gods) is particularly useful for doing philosophy, it is important to recognize that the term “atheism� is polysemous—i.e., it has more than one related meaning—even within philosophy.

[William]

Are the terms atheist and agnostic mutually exclusive? What precisely do each of these terms currently mean?

An atheist is someone who lacks belief in GODs.
There are subsets to this position.

An agnostic doesn't know if GODs exist or not, but lacks belief in them anyway.

Thus an agnostic is an atheist and is positioned in the subset of atheism known as agnosticism.

'Atheism' in and of itself is a neutral position based in ignorance. It simply lacks knowledge and thus lacks belief in anything.
Specifically the lack of belief is about GODs because, 'theism'. Otherwise atheism could just be referred to as 'ignorance'.

Because ignorance is ordinarily the starting position, as knowledge comes into it, atheism begins to grow subsets.

Agnosticism is one of those subsets, and retains the neutral position but does so now, with knowledge - and the knowledge represents that not enough knowledge is available to make any informed decision one way or the other.

Others decide that the agnostic position is too namby-pamby and what is required is something far more stronger, such as all out declarations that GOD does not exist, and all theism is detrimental/evil/lies etc...

This is an atheism subset which can be referred to as anti-theism. It has knowledge but interprets the knowledge without remaining in neutrality. the knowledge represents that not enough knowledge is available to make any informed decision, but uninformed decisions are considered to being legitimate in the fight against theism.

[help3434]

[Replying to post 1 by McCulloch]

As others have pointed out they are no exclusive and in fact describe different categories, but the term "agnostic" is often used colloquially to describe "weak atheists" who don't have a positive belief but haven't ruled out theism as implausible, as opposed to "strong atheists" who are very assertive in finding the concept of the existence of God or gods absurd and are often anti-theists.

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 1 by McCulloch]

No, they are not.

An atheist is a person who lacks belief in god/gods/deities.

An agnostic is a person who takes the position that one can't know whether or not god/gods/deities exist.

An agnostic atheist is a person who lacks belief in god/gods/deities but does not claim to know it/they don't exist.

An agnostic theist is a person who believes in god/gods/deities but does not claim to know it/they exist.

[William]

[Replying to post 27 by Tcg]

An agnostic theist is a person who believes in god/gods/deities but does not claim to know it/they exist.

This appears to me to be a bit silly.

How does anyone KNOW if god/gods/deities exist? Theism is about belief in things suspected but not known.

Theism claims to believe/understand that god/gods/deities exist. They may know a lot about their beliefs and why they believe, but they do not know god/gods/deities exist.

So in that light, agnostic theists are pretty much all theists, according to the definition presented.

An agnostic atheist is a person who lacks belief in god/gods/deities but does not claim to know it/they don't exist.

On the surface, this is more understandable. There are atheists who claim that they know god/gods/deities do not exist based upon what they see as lack of evidence
There are also theists who claim that they know god/gods/deities exist.

Seriously, neither types know god/gods/deities do or do not exist. They believe.

What is happening really is that the words 'believe' and 'know' have been allowed to be used interchangeably and this conflation has caused unnecessary confusion and complication requiring 'explaining' positions which don't actually exist.

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 27 by Tcg]

William - This appears to me to be a bit silly.

Tcg - Silly? I was expecting an intellectually rational response to the facts I presented, not an emotional reaction to them. I'm not sure how your emotional reaction is relevant.

William- How does anyone KNOW if god/gods/deities exist? Theism is about belief in things suspected but not known.

Tcg - You need to address this question to the countless theists I have interacted with who claim not only to know that their god of choice exists, but that they have a "personal relationship" with their mythological being.

[William]

[Replying to post 29 by Tcg]

Tcg - You need to address this question to the countless theists I have interacted with who claim not only to know that their god of choice exists, but that they have a "personal relationship" with their mythological being.

Perhaps, perhaps not. My comment had more to do with the what appears to be an unnecessary position of agnostic theist.

A theist is someone who thinks that GOD(s) exist. They do not lack belief in GOD(s) existing.

An agnostic does not know, and on account of that, lacks belief in GOD. They are atheists because the are agnostic.

In this, the agnostic wants a type of empirical evidence which would allow the agnostic to KNOW. (convince the agnostic) but does not go so far as to believe that GOD(s) don't exist, just because a type of empirical evidence which would allow the agnostic to KNOW, is not available.
(To the best of my knowledge, it is unknown as to what might constitute a type of empirical evidence which would allow someone to know that GOD(s) exist.)

An 'agnostic theist' seems to me to be an oxymoron, in the same way that an atheist theist is.