William Clifford The Ethics Of Belief Summary

In his essay “The Ethics of Belief” William K. Clifford argues that it is always and everywhere wrong to believe in something without sufficient evidence. His premise is that we have a moral obligation to examine our beliefs and find sufficient cause for believing them and he concludes with stating “truth can only be gained through objective verification”, like- a mathematical proof. Clifford‘s essay is intended to be a moral rejection of subjectivism, this is when we say that truth can be found within oneself, through one‘s own experiences, for example the children in Fatima who believe in God because they think the Blessed Mother appeared to them and gave them a message or when people “pray for a sign” and then think they see that “sign”.

Evidence is important and valuable at times, but not all times. When someone says, “the United States is hiding a UFO and aliens at Area 51” we would want to know on what evidence he is asserting this. But we recognize that insisting on evidence, in many cases, has its limits. No one is allowed to go to Area 51. The government says there are no aliens at Area 51 – we have to accept that and most people do. Humans have basic beliefs that we do not need evidence to maintain. We have beliefs that are from our fundamental experience in everyday life and other beliefs that are from notable authorities on the subject. We believe that most people we meet are of sound mind and body – we do not need to have another person provide proof of their mental ability before we enter into a conversation or debate with them. We believe the Grand Canyon was created by the Colorado River eroding the Earth as geologists have told us. We believe the Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires on earth and America’s founding fathers were influenced by Roman Law as historians have told us. To investigate everything we hear, see, or read is impossible, we do not have the time to check out all the claims we believe. Clifford is incorrect in claiming we must pursue empirical evidence for ourselves for everything we