Agnosticism is not a prescriptive philosophy. Apart from its scepticism on divine matters, it does not promote any particular metaphysical doctrine in subjects such as cosmology, the existence of evil or the conflict between determinism and free will. It also does not delineate a lifepath for its adherents.

However, holding a position of absolute incredulity regarding every metaphysical aspect is not a common one either, as not having an opinion about anything is not usually a fulfilling position to hold. Therefore, many agnostics tend to follow the scientific consensus of their time.

Even though Agnosticism is not a normative philosophy and does not prescribe a way of living, the impossibility of behaving in a metaphysically neutral way has, in effect, an unintended consequence: the de facto acceptance of the philosophical views of Pragmatism. Sometimes, a version of Relativism may also be adopted. The latter implies that each person becomes his own Monad or ultimate authority. Each member of the Many becomes the One.

Atheism is defined as a negation of Theism. It states its absence of belief in the existence of any kind of deity. It can be understood as a philosophical position or even as a faith since, by definition, immanent beings such as ourselves cannot obtain conclusive evidence about a transcendent God.

Transcendent, non-testable “hypothesis” would include the God of Abrahamic religions. In contrast, the existence or non-existence of immanent deities (such as those of ancient mythologies or Neo-Paganism) could, in theory, be assessed by the scientific method.

Science could then disprove Polytheism, but it lacks the tools to answer the “God question” as posed by Monotheism and Trinitarian Christianity.

Atheists are assumed to be irreligious or unspiritual. However, this is not always the case. Atheism, in the sense of negating the existence of a personal creator God, is compatible and viewed as a valid philosophical position in traditions such as the Hindu Samkhya (the original philosophy of Yoga), Buddhism, Jainism and in general with all the schools that view ultimate reality as a process, a law or a principle. It is also compatible with some psychological interpretations of spiritual beliefs, were the deities are external representations of internal archetypes intrinsic to the human mind (e.g., Jungian-inspired psychological schools).

Most atheists tend to believe in the existence of only one fundamental substance underlying all reality (non-theistic Monism), usually matter (Materialism).

Physicalism (everything that exists is physical) and Naturalism (no supernatural entities exist) are related philosophical views.⁵Oppy, Graham (2019). Atheism: The Basics. Routledge, pp. 14-15.

Believers of the current scientific paradigm, if they are reductionists, may also be monists in another sense: believing that everything in reality can be eventually reduced to the laws of physics. In this view, living beings can be reduced to complex chemical reactions, which in turn are a particular case of physical chemistry, which is a part of the physical sciences. Physics, in turn, is composed of mathematical descriptions of the four main forces of the Universe (gravity, electromagnetism and the weak and strong nuclear forces), which are believed by many to be explainable by a single Theory of Everything or unified field theory. This is a purely intellectual way of going back to the One.

Secular Humanism can be described as a philosophy as well as a lifestance that defines itself as opposed to any religious dogma, considered as superstitious.⁶Edwords, Fred (1989). What Is Humanism?. American Humanist Association: “Secular Humanism is an outgrowth of eighteenth century enlightenment rationalism and nineteenth century freethought… A decidedly anti-theistic version of secular humanism, however, is developed by Adolf Grünbaum, ‘In Defense of Secular Humanism’ (1995), in his Collected Works (edited by Thomas Kupka), vol. I, New York: Oxford University Press, ch. 6 (pp. 115–48).”

Secular Humanism rejects the notions of faith and revelation and emphasizes the individual use of reason as the main source of authority from which to derive knowledge, primarily through science and philosophy.

Humanists believe that ethics and morality can be founded in human reason alone, without the need for God or any deity. Usually, this translates in following utilitarian or evolutionary ethics.

No ground for the preference of one system of ethics above others can be provided, however, since different ways of reasoning may obtain different conclusions of what is good.

For example, a survival of the fittest morality based on evolutionary theory and the good of the species over that of the individual can be rationally justified (social Darwinism).

As in Atheism or Agnosticism, humanist views on traditional metaphysical doctrines such as the origin / creation of the world, the nature of time or free will are mostly derived from the accepted scientific theories of the day.

This epistemological position sees other paths to obtaining knowledge, such as faith, intuition or mystical experiences as meaningless.

The metaphysical views of Compte included the necessary progression and evolution of human history in three stages: the theological, the metaphysical and the fully rational or “positivist” age.

Later in life, however, Comte tried to create a “religion of humanity” to fulfill purely what he saw as the necessary cohesive role provided by religion but without the associated metaphysical beliefs. Nowadays, positivist temples can still be found.

Symbolism in Humanism: the “Happy Human” is the official international symbol of Humanism.

A. “One of the features of positivism is precisely its postulate that scientific knowledge is the paradigm of valid knowledge, a postulate that indeed is never proved nor intended to be proved.”

― Jorge Larraín (1979). The Concept of Ideology. London: Hutchinson, p. 197