On Untheism

Following up on Pascal v. "Philo", there is the theist/atheist argument. Some pose agnosticism as the "middle way": a bewildered ignorance, a belief it can't be proved or resolved one way or the other.

The deconstructionist sees the whole setup as a trap: one is bottled into making a "choice", or not making it (which presumes there is a choice that exists in the first place). But what of the living/dead, i.e. the undead?—The zombie?

The deconstructionist would unleash the (indeterminate) untheist.

Usage Note: The negative prefix un- attaches chiefly to adjectives (unable, unclean, unequal, unripe, unsafe) and participles used as adjectives (unfeeling, unflinching, unfinished, unsaid), and less frequently to nouns (unbelief, unconcern, unrest). Sometimes the noun form of an adjective with the un- prefix has the prefix in-, as in inability, inequality, injustice, and instability. A few stems appear with both prefixes with distinctions of meaning. Inhuman means "brutal, monstrous," while unhuman means "not of human form, superhuman." When used with adjectives, un- often has a sense distinct from that of non-. Non- picks out the set of things that are not in the category denoted by the stem to which it is attached, whereas un- picks out properties unlike those of the typical examples of the category. Thus nonmilitary personnel are those who are not members of the military, whereas someone who is unmilitary is unlike a typical soldier in dress, habits, or attitudes.

from thefreedictionary.com/un-

If you came across an untheist, which would it be? Someone devoid not only of theism but of the conundrum of choice? Someone not in the form of a theist? A supertheist?

You wouldn't know.


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see also a-: A prefix meaning "without" or "not" when forming an adjective (such as amorphous, without form, or atypical, not typical), and "absence of" when forming a noun (such as arrhythmia, absence of rhythm). Before a vowel or h it becomes an- (as in anhydrous, anoxia). [thefreedictionary.com/a-]

(A 2007 post, Untheism [Fred McVittie], is mistaken in my view, since it denies the existence of godly entities, and therefore is not different from atheism as far as 'God' goes.)

2009/03/10 — A term that expresses indifference over indeterminism: Meh-theism


2011/02/10 see also Atheism = Untheism + Antitheism