PHIL 110 Lecture 6: 5.6 - Clifford - The Ethics of Belief

• School: University of San Diego
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 110
• Professor: Colanter

Document Summary

Clifford argues against pascalian wagers and against all pragmatic justification for religious belief. He contends that believing involves ethical principles, so we violate our moral duty if we obtain beliefs where the evidence is insufficient. Such acquisitions of beliefs are tantamount to theft. Not only does it deceive ourselves by giving us a sense of power which we do not really possess, but it is sinful because it is stolen in defiance of our duty to mankind. To sum up; it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence. It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to ignore evidence that is relevant to his beliefs, or to dismiss relevant evidence in a facile way. We have an epistemic obligation to possess sufficient evidence for all of our beliefs;