“The Ethics of Belief” PHIL 2641 Online – Section 001 February 13‚ 2008 William K. Clifford sets out to show in “The Ethics of Belief” that “it is wrong always‚ everywhere‚ and for anyone‚ to believe anything upon insufficient evidence…” In this paper‚ I will show that his argument lacks key definitions needed in order to found his inference upon and that it begs the question as to what qualifies as “insufficient” evidence. Furthermore‚ I will show that the primary issue is not the belief but the
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In William K. Clifford’s‚ The Ethics of Belief‚ he begins the essay telling a story of a ship-owner. The ship-owner was in the process of allowing a ship to sail off into the sea carrying emigrants. He knew the ship was old‚ needed to be rebuilt and was overworked. In his mind‚ he knew that the ship was not seaworthy which made him unhappy. The problem that plagued him the most were the possible expenses to the ship and he simply did not want to pay them. So instead of getting the ship repaired‚
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lief Clifford focuses on three main points throughout the Ethics of Belief article. He believes that in order to have a sense of belief one must inquire on the belief‚ question authority‚ and the limit the usage of inference. He believes that without these three factors it is difficult to come to a consensus on what are the right and wrong principles of belief. At the beginning of the article Clifford focuses on the duty of inquiry. In order to set the background‚ Clifford introduces a story
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“The Ethics of Belief” written by W.K. Clifford. Explains the idea of belief and moral righteousness by coming up with the conclusion that it is morally incorrect to believe in a claim with insufficient evidence or to create a claim without sufficient evidence. Clifford brings about various analogies that prove his claim to be true such as the ship-owner and the religious group on the island. Although these ideas helped set out the theory efficiently‚ William James essay “The Will to Believe” believes
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In the most basic sense evidentialism focuses on the justifications‚ beliefs‚ conclusions‚ and the evidence for each of these for any given person. William Clifford’s work‚ The Ethics of Beliefs‚ presents his principle of evidentialism and how one must judge the beliefs and justifications rather than consequences. Given Clifford’s definition‚ counter arguments regarding the necessity of consequences towards an individual’s action arise to invalidate Clifford’s claim. I will argue that despite the
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Does Clifford present a persuasive viewpoint of religious faith? In his article “The Ethics of Belief (Clifford‚ 1877) W.K. Clifford sought to claim that it is inappropriate always‚ in all places‚ and for anyone‚ to believe anything upon unsatisfactory evidence. The goal of this paper is to determine whether indeed this opinion offered by Clifford‚ when considering religious faith‚ is persuasive. To successfully do this‚ I will weigh up the arguments that Clifford put forward‚ including that of disbelieving
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Clifford and James Summaries of W.K. Clifford and William James’s arguments for belief | In this paper‚ I hope to effectively summarize W.K Clifford’s (1879) argument on the ethics of belief‚ followed by a summary of William James’ (1897) argument on the right to believe‚ and finally‚ provide an argument for why W.K Clifford’s (1879) argument is stronger by highlighting its strengths while simultaneously arguing against William James’ (1897) argument. According to Clifford (1879)‚ there
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Comparison of Ethics and Will in Belief Socrates is quoted as saying “ I cannot teach anybody anything‚ I can only make them think.” and that is what we are asked to do for this end of the term writing assignment. Philosophy‚ at least in my own case‚ has never been easy to understand‚ especially when talking about the religious implication. When it comes to those aspects I always tend to look in the direction of faith because I was born and raised a Christian. This is why comparing William James and
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“The Ethics of Belief” by William K. Clifford Clifford’s main thesis in “The Ethics of belief” is it it always wrong to believe something without sufficient evidence. It means people cannot believe and trust anything with no evidence to prove if it’s wrong or right. And also no matter what evidence is‚ wrong belief is wrong event. Like you can’t believe God because there’s no such evidence to prove the God is really exists. No one actually see the God and talk to s/he‚ to prove that God is
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William K. Clifford‚ in his essay “The Ethics Of Belief” (1877)‚ asserts that beliefs must be held sacred; they must be extensively investigated with an open mind before a belief is formed. Clifford supports this assertion by telling two parallel stories about men who held beliefs without full investigation‚ concluding that beliefs not held to a high ethical standard are detrimental to society. His purpose is to instill in his readers a habit of questioning their beliefs to the full extent possible
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