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The singular characteristic of agnosticism is that the existence of God is inherently unknowable, however others view this singular characteristic as either uncertainty or doubt. For this reason, agnosticism is a form of scepticism focusing on religious statements, and so faces some of the same philosophical issues. For instance if an agnostic claims that absolute knowledge of truth is not possible and does not restrict the scope of this claim, they are in danger of contradicting themselves. For then the statement there are no absolute truths would appear itself to be an absolute truth. An agnostic is on firmer ground if they claim that religious statements or statements about the numinous world are not or cannot be satisfactorily justified. If such were the case, it would be reasonable to reserve judgment. For instance, an agnostic might demand that religious statements be justified in the same way as scientific statements, perhaps in terms of the scientific methodThe scientific method is a sequence or collection of processes that are considered characteristic of scientific investigation and the acquisition of new scientific knowledge based upon physical evidence. Science deals with assertions about the way the wor. Since this is adopting an attitude towards the quality of proof required to accept such statements, agnosticism becomes a matter of inclination rather than of logical proof. That is, one need only be willing to accept a different justification of religious statements in order to avoid agnosticism. Perhaps this explains why agnostics do not generally engage in proselytization.
Among the most famous agnostics (in the original sense) were Thomas Henry Huxley, Charles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin ( February 12, 1809 April 19, 1882) was an English naturalist whose revolutionary theory laid the foundation for both the modern theory of evolution and the principle of common descent by proposing natural selection as a mechanism., and Bertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell ( May 18, 1872 February 2, 1970) was one of the most influential mathematicians, philosophers and logicians working (mostly) in the 20th century, an important political liberal, activist and a populariser. It has been argued from the works of David HumeDavid Hume ( April 26, 1711 August 25, 1776), Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid among others, one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume is sometimes regarded as the third and most radical o, especially Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, that he was an agnostic, but this remains subject to debate.