Critical Reflection of the MEssages Presented in “The Ethics of Belief” by W. K. Clifford

The argument being put forth by Drange specifically attacks the God of Evangelical biblical Christianity, an important distinction for the argument itself. The Encyclopedia Britannica illuminates evangelicalism as a Christian protestant movement which emphasizes conversion and the foundational nature of the Bible as the only basis for faith, declaring the Bible as “inerrant.” (Brittanica, par.1)

In Kelly James Clark’s Article “Without Evidence or Argument”, Clark argues that belief in God, does not require the support of evidence or argument in order for it to be rational. Clark’s argument is against W.K. Clifford’s article “The Ethics of Belief”, in which Clifford claims that everything must be believed only on the basis of sufficient evidence (139). Throughout Kelly Clark’s article he states many things that support his conclusion of belief without evidence or argument, however, my paper will only discuss what Clark says on p.139 starting with the paragraph “The first problem with Clifford’s…” and the following paragraph, ending with the words “...to see why.”

In his article “The Ethics of Belief (Clifford, 1877) W.K. Clifford sought to argue that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence” (as cited on p190). The aim of this essay is to establish whether indeed this view offered by Clifford, when considering religious faith, is convincing. In order to do this I will consider the arguments that Clifford put forward, including that which to believe anything based upon insufficient evidence always does harm and so is wrong. Such a statement is in direct opposition to those religious believers who regard their blind faith as a virtue and for whom evidence is something that is

In science, James declares that our options are for the best part but not momentous, As well as today’s technology, we should do all in our power to let proof guide our choice. Therefore, James does not actually differ with Clifford cases. However, James disagree merely on cases where the intelligence is quiet. James states that “faith in the fact can aid make the fact”. In which the fact in query is something to be wished for, in these case William James believes that faith is clearly sensible. For example, supposing that a person is involved in a significant party-political tussle just like the “civil rights movement” and she/he recognizes from tough experience that tussles of this kind thrive merely if persons have belief that they can and will prosper, no matter what the impartial proof says. In view of this case, James embraces that it is ethically allowable for a person to believe that the tussle will prosper, since this belief makes it more possible that a person will attain something which is greatly

According to Clifford (1879), there is an ethics to belief that makes it always wrong for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence. Clifford (1879) begins his paper by providing an illustrative analogy – one where a ship-owner is preparing to send to sea a ship filled

The Will to Believe is a lecture that was presented by William James in 1896, it specifically defends that one can choose to believe in a religion without prior evidence of its truth. William James was a well-distinguished philosopher as well as a psychologist and a physician. He with a few other philosophers like Charles sanders Pierce and John Dewey were fundamental in establishing modern philosophy in America and are thought to be the founding fathers of pragmatism.

can be either living or dead, in that some ideas you will either entertain, or

Secular humanism is a non-theistic worldview. Humanists do not believe in a God of any kind, rather, they take their answers about life, death, and the universe from science. They choose to rely on facts and proof instead of faith. Although they do not believe in a God they still believe that we should live good lives. They do this because it is the right thing to do, not because they are hoping to get into heaven. Secular Humanists believe that there is no afterlife, once we die, that is it. There is no eternal life and no heaven, hell, or purgatory. Humanists believe this because there is no proof of an afterlife. They see the afterlife as wishful thinking, an idea created to make the inevitability of death slightly less terrifying. They

William James, in an article, expresses his views in the title, “Will to Believe.” He classifieds our beliefs as hypothesis’. These hypothesis are either alive or dead and alive meaning the hypothesis appeals to a real possibility by whom it’s proposed to. He believes when making appeals of hypothesis we always make reference to ones beliefs no matter how small. James presents all of this is a fort of one or the other. He allows no room for an “in-between” and one must make a choice. Essentially, James believes when coming about conflicts our decisions are forced options, and one must live with the option they choose.

William Clifford and William James were both philosophers of the 19th century whose work was primarily in ethics. Clifford’s essay "The Ethics of Belief" contains the famous principle "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." He was arguing that it was immoral to believe things for which one lacks evidence. This paper was famously attacked by James in his "Will to Believe" lecture.

William James’ responds to Clifford in his essay title, “The Will to Believe.” (Burger, 2008) As we learned, Clifford argues it is wrong to believe anything without sufficient evidence; whereas, James’ argument is in some cases, despite insufficient evidence, it is still justified to believe. James discusses hypothesis in his argument. Said hypothesis can either be alive or dead. Additionally, there are decisive options for the hypotheses. These options include living or dead, forced or avoidable, and momentous or trivial. An option that is living, forced, and momentous, is a genuine option. Essentially, live or dead hypotheses are separated by how it interests the person. In other words, the emotional reaction or connection to the

The Case of John Hicks. It is therefore more than a little ironic that the most significant

This section provides us with two selections from the essays of William K. Clifford (1845-1879) and William James (1842-1910). Clifford's essay, The Ethics of Belief, is based on the concept of evidentialism. This concept 'holds that we should not accept any statement as true unless we have good evidence to support its truth'; (Voices of Wisdom, 346). James wrote his essay, The Will to Believe, as a response to Clifford's essay where he endorsed a philosophy called pragmatism.

Summa Theologiae was written to display the reasonableness of Christian faith and to train future teachers in guiding others through Christianity, (Lecture, 11.14.2016) whereby one ultimately reaches true happiness. While Christians steadily find pleasure in their acceptance of God, Aquinas maintains that perfect happiness is distinct from this, both in what it entails and how it is achieved. Aquinas believes that humans cannot be entirely happy until fully understanding God, the original cause of their own being, which is impossible until reuniting with God in life after death.

Poverty is something I believe is a responsibility that all Christians have an ethical moral duty to address. Though there are many secular organizations and individuals that offer help and assistance to those in need, poverty is something that all Christians must try to alleviate. Turning a blind eye, waiting for someone else to step up, and taking the stance that people in poverty deserve to be poor, are all incorrect attitudes as well as non-Biblical stances.