Agnosticism versus Humean empiricism and skepticism
Both say “I can't be sure” about God. Agnosticism stops there. Humean empiricism is a whole account of what we can know, and it reaches far beyond God.
What they share
Both hold back from claims that go beyond what we can check. On the question of God, both say we lack good grounds to be sure. David Hume's own view on God is read by many scholars as close to agnosticism.
Where they differ
- How wide the doubt reaches. Agnosticism is a position on one question: whether anyone can know if there is a God. Humean empiricism is a whole account of knowledge. It says every idea comes from experience, so thinking alone cannot prove big claims, and it applies the same test to cause and effect and to the self.
- The self. When Hume looks inward he finds no lasting self, only a stream of experiences. Agnosticism says nothing about the self.
- Where the doubt comes from. For Hume the doubt about God follows from his rule that we can only reason from experience, and he adds that religion grows out of fear and hope. Agnosticism needs no such rule. A person can be agnostic for any reason.
A question that separates them
Someone who only says “I can't be sure about God” is an agnostic. Someone who also holds that all knowledge rests on experience, and doubts there is a fixed self, is closer to Hume.
- Where does knowledge come from? “What we know comes from experience, and pure thinking cannot prove big claims” against “Careful thinking alone can reach real truths”.
- Is there a lasting self? “When I look inward, I find a stream of changing thoughts and no fixed self” against “There is a real, lasting me underneath”.
Scholars still debate what Hume himself believed about God, so he is not called an atheist or an agnostic here.
Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 3 October 2026. The sources are listed below.
Read each on its own
Sources we used
- Atheism and Agnosticism · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 3 October 2026
- Atheism · Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 3 October 2026
- Hume on Religion · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 3 October 2026
- David Hume · Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, read on 3 October 2026