[aruanan]

He calls himself an 'atheist'-- a word that describes only what he doesn't believe, and nothing of what he does believe.  I honestly feel that with time we could have agreed on a common concept of our Creator. 

If he's going to be pragmatic, he should call himself an agnostic, describing only what he does not yet know, rather than an atheistic, which makes a blanket statement about reality that would require of him knowledge that he does not and, especially by his pragmatist philosophy, cannot have.

[expat_panama]

knowledge that he does not and, especially by his pragmatist philosophy, cannot have.

The kid's no slouch-- he's got a PhD in Physics and another degree in history.  He's also well aware of the limits of his knowledge-- but rather than call himself an agnostic (like my daughter/his wife) he points out that since he's never seen an acceptable demonstration of the usefulness of the Concept of an Infinite Being, that he's not willing to incorporate the premise into his 'tool kit'.

But things change, and since he and I were able to agree on the usefulness of a value system, I hope that some day he and I can further explore Ultimate Concepts.  I expect to pick up a lot of interesting ideas from him whether or not he learns anything from me.