I often hear people claim to be atheist, but not agnostic or agnostic, but not atheist, as if these two positions are somehow mutually exclusive. As far as I can tell, this is not the case, so I shall attempt to explain my reasoning.
First and foremost I am a skeptic, if I could be said to have a "world-view" it could be most accurately described as skeptical. As Socrates said "If I know one thing, it is that I Know nothing."
What I am most skeptical of is metaphysical claims, claims about the supposed "fundamental nature of being". How can anyone claim to possess such Knowledge? I am agnostic in this sense that I do not claim absolute Knowledge, but this does not mean that I do not know things in the normal sense.
As far as God is concerned there is no evidence, nor can there be because "God" has never been defined in a way that makes sense. Does this mean that I deny "God's" existence? No, no more than I deny the "existence" of square triangles, only our ability to identify them.
Because of all of this I am also an atheist, I do not believe in God or gods.
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