agnostic的词源

英文词源

agnostic

agnostic: [19] Agnostic is an invented word. It was coined by the English biologist and religious sceptic T H Huxley (1825–95) to express his opposition to the views of religious gnostics of the time, who claimed that the world of the spirit (and hence God) was knowable (gnostic comes ultimately from Greek gnōsis ‘knowledge’). With the addition of the Greek-derived prefix a- ‘not’ Huxley proclaimed the ultimate unknowability of God.

The circumstances of the coinage, or at least of an early instance of the word’s use by its coiner, were recorded by R H Hutton, who was present at a party held by the Metaphysical Society in a house on Clapham Common in 1869 when Huxley suggested agnostic, basing it apparently on St Paul’s reference to the altar of ‘the Unknown God’.

agnostic (n.)

1870, "one who professes that the existence of a First Cause and the essential nature of things are not and cannot be known" [Klein]; coined by T.H. Huxley (1825-1895), supposedly in September 1869, from Greek agnostos "unknown, unknowable," from a- "not" + gnostos "(to be) known" (see gnostic). Sometimes said to be a reference to Paul's mention of the altar to "the Unknown God," but according to Huxley it was coined with reference to the early Church movement known as Gnosticism (see Gnostic).

I ... invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of 'agnostic,' ... antithetic to the 'Gnostic' of Church history who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant. [T.H. Huxley, "Science and Christian Tradition," 1889]

The adjective is first recorded 1870.

中文词源

agnostic（不可知论的）：处于有神论和无神论之间的哲学学说

英语单词agnostic（不可知）最早在1869年由英国哲学家托马斯•亨利•赫 胥黎创造，用于描述他的哲学。agnostic由否定前缀a加上希腊语中表示“知道”的单词gnostos复合而成，字面意思就是“不知道”。这种哲学否 认认识世界或彻底认识世界的可能性。在他那里，不可知论者是指对基督教神学教条表示怀疑，但又拒绝无神论，从而主张把上帝是否存在这一类问题搁置起来的 人。这种哲学学说就是Agnosticism（“不可知论”）。

agnostic：[æg'nɒstɪk] adj.不可知论的n.不可知论者

agnosticism：[æɡ'nɒstɪsɪzəm] n.不可知论

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：agnostic 词源，agnostic 含义。

agnostic：不可知论的

发音释义：[æg'nɒstɪk] n. 不可知论者adj. 不可知论的

结构分析：agnostic = a（不）+ gnost（知道）+ic（形容词后缀）→不可能知道的→不可知论的

词源解释：gnost←希腊语gnostos（知道）←原始印欧词根gno（认知）

背景知识：英语单词agnostic（不可知）最早在1869年由英国哲学家托马斯·亨利·赫胥黎创造，用于描述他的哲学。这种哲学否认认识世界或彻底认识世界的可能性。在他那里，不可知论者是指对基督教神学教条表示怀疑，但又拒绝无神论，从而主张把上帝是否存在这一类问题搁置起来的人。

“诺斯替主义”（Gnosticism）是希腊哲学晚期的一种思想，认为物质世界是邪恶的，灵魂从灵性世界堕落至邪恶的物质世界，只能通过“灵知”才能得到救赎，重返灵性世界。他们把这种隐秘的、关乎拯救的智慧或“灵知”称为“诺斯”（gnosis），将拥有“灵知”的人称为“诺斯替”（Gnostic）。在基督教发展初期，诺斯替主义者曾借用基督信仰来表达这种隐秘智慧的求道方式，被教会的大公会议判为异端。

同源词：know（知道），gnostic（知的、认识的），Gnostic（诺斯替教徒），Gnosticism（诺斯替主义），Agnosticism（不可知论）

agnostic：不可知论者

前缀a-, 非， 没有。词根gn, 知道，同can, know. 此处用于宗教义，认为上帝不存在。

agnostic：不可知论者

; agnostic 不可知论者

该词是英国博物学家赫胥黎(Thomas HenryHuxley，1825一i895)在1896年一次聚会上首次提出来的。他认为，除感觉或现象而外，世界本身是无法认识的，“物质实体”和上帝、灵魂一样，都是不可知的。他以agnostic一一词表示像他本人那样的“不可知论者”。agnostie源于希腊语的agnostos，其原意是“不知道的”(unknowing)，“不可知的”(unknowable)，含义则为“我不知道是不是存在着上帝"。

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