Episode Details

This lecture discusses the William Clifford's 1877 essay "The Ethics Of Belief", in which he makes and argued for the central claim "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." It focuses on the two cases that Clifford's essay uses to illustrate the ethical duty he argues that we have not to believe anything without having gathered and weighed evidence for or against the belief. One example has to do with a ship owner who takes on passengers for a voyage without knowing whether or not the ship is actually seaworthy. The other example has to do with a group of people who persecute another group for engaging in practices they consider harmful without actually finding out whether they are in fact engaged in such practices. Clifford argues that even if it turns out to be as one believes, and that the actions produce good consequences, the person who believes upon insufficient evidence does wrong thereby. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO You can find over 4,000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Get Clifford's The Ethics of Belief - https://amzn.to/41WkkYA