Admitting you doubt now and then does not make you an agnostic, does it?

[TarkanAttila]

I was talking with a fellow who said he was a solipsist. In lay man’s terms, it is a strong form of scepticism, akin to agnosticism, except that it applies to everything - except one’s own mind. Even one’s hands and feet may be placed in doubt. Though it can be someone who only believes his mind exists, or who is certain that his mind exists, but is simply unsure in varying degrees that anything else does.

We did a lot of discussion, and it seems to come down to this:

He believes, for the most part, his senses are with him. But he does doubt from time to time. He believes that qualifies him as a solipsist and an agnostic. He also thinks that, by his definition (which I tried to figure out), I am an agnostic, too.

Here is my second-to-last post, with his responses in between:

It’s possible [that my brain is actually an infant alien’s brain], but given the experiences of others that testify to my being born from my mother, the biology of my brain as a human (assuming the alien’s physiology is nothing like a human’s), the impossibility of there being life on the Moon due to a lack of air and water, and the strong testimonial and reasonable evidence that the Moon is nothing but a big, dead rock, it hardly seems likely. We could assume I have an alien brain, but it is unlikely. Besides it being unlikely, it is also unimportant because evidence points to the conclusion that there are no significant differences between me and most human beings mentally and physically speaking.

In other words, doubt is almost always a possibility. Even the existence of your mind can be subject to doubt (your mind could simply be a teeny weeny part of some colossal super-mind, as the Hindus and Buddhists suggest). But in most cases, for most human beings, doubt is so minimal that it is practically certain. I may, on a whim, doubt my own hands exist for a minute someday. I may doubt that there are other people on some certain moment in my life. But that is part of having to trust your senses - or trust anything for that matter.
**
In other words, your solipsism may be nothing more than a normal thought pattern with a gross exaggeration on the tiny 0.000001% of doubt in your mind, if I understand it correctly. A miniscule amount of doubt in the existence of the rest of the natural born world (and the supernatural) magnified so large that you forgot that most of your life you were fairly certain of most things.**

Radenk:

Yes, that is correct. I don’t know whether the world is real or not. All I know is that my mind exists, that’s all I can be sure of. Of course, I’m almost completely certain that the world is in fact real as we believe it is. But can I be 100% sure? No. And that’s solipsism. I don’t know why you keep denying it. It’s like you fear the possibility of me being right. Which I am, unless you can refute the theory.

In other other words, you are not a solipsist. You just need to stop focusing on the doubt and start looking at the world and reacting to it and behaving as if it were 100% certain. You have no other evidence to go on. All you have are your mind, body, and soul, and all of the things you have learned from them.

So am I an agnostic? Yes. All men are. Agnostic simply means “ignorant”. And all of us are even slightly ignorant to “what could have been” or “what REALLY is” or “what lies ahead”. But while I may not be 100% certain of everything (I am not required to by man nor by God), I trust my senses. And I trust other peoples’ senses. I also trust logic, reason, and my education. And if my brain tells me something, I trust it, too.
Radenk:

Again correct. The difference is that many don’t realize what you just realized. You’re agnostic theist. You may believe that God exists, but you are not 100% sure. Maybe 99.9999%, but not a hundred percent. And I don’t know why you keep denying it. You said so yourself. I’m guessing now you’ll say that the whole agnosticism concept is garbage, but that won’t change the fact that you, truly, are agnostic.

And I especially trust in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Teachings and Traditions of the Catholic Church. The evidence and logic is strong for them, even if (due to my imperfect human perception) it is not certain.

Whatever the case, it doesn’t matter what you think or I think. There is objective truth that exists regardless of our limited, imperfect, biased viewpoints.

emphasis added

I get the feeling he is playing word games, sophistry. It’s not unnatural for people to doubt. It’s just a question of whether that doubt defines your beliefs or not. For a Catholic Christian, doubt may occur, but he never dwells on it. He offers it up to God, like any other weakness.

For an agnostic, doubt is his mental bread and water. If he ceases to cling to it, he must finally be decisive and stand for something.

Am I right? Or it something amiss with my understanding of doubt in relation to faith?

 

[Trishie]

Having doubts doesn’t make you, as a Catholic, into an agnostic.
Doubts are essentially questions which provide springboards to deeper faith and a more profound understanding.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I remember reading someplace that “A thousand doubts do not make one a heretic.”

 

[passus]

I think you’re right. Solipsism is not a pragmatic philosophy by which one can actually live, in my opinion. Your friend is just trying to sound profound. Tell him that his worldview is horribly out of fashion and needs to be updated, stat!

You’re also not an agnostic, so don’t worry.

 

[jochoa]

He believes, for the most part, his senses are with him. But he does doubt from time to time. He believes that qualifies him as a solipsist and an agnostic. He also thinks that, by his definition (which I tried to figure out), I am an agnostic, too.

It’s not unnatural for people to doubt. It’s just a question of whether that doubt defines your beliefs or not. For a Catholic Christian, doubt may occur, but he never dwells on it. He offers it up to God, like any other weakness.

For an agnostic, doubt is his mental bread and water. If he ceases to cling to it, he must finally be decisive and stand for something.

Am I right? Or it something amiss with my understanding of doubt in relation to faith?

Are you right? Yes. Obtaining unshakable faith is gained through doubt, struggles, and experimentation.
Is your friend right? Yes. There are 3 ways to not believe in God: Doubt His Existence, Doubt His Word, or Doubt Jesus. If for a single moment one thinks God does not Exist, Jesus is fictional, or being Patient and Kind for God is not the best way to achieve peace, happiness, and longevity, then s/he is agnostic in that moment.

No worries friend! Continue to work on patience (recognizing unshakable faith is gained in due time with effort), kindness (open-mind, consideration, and optimism), and motivated by God (through prayer), and you will find amazing peace, happiness, energy, and unshakable faith! Your friend is simply intrigued in deep thoughts. Have fun considering the deep thoughts to gain greater perspective and friendship!