The Ethics of Belief, WK Clifford

1. There is not enough evidence to prove God’s existence.
2. It is wrong if a person believes something without enough evidence.

C: therefore, you are wrong if you believe god exist

“In the first place, let us admit that, so far as it goes, this view of the case is right and necessary; right, because even when a man’s belief is so fixed that he cannot think otherwise, he still has a choice in regard to the action suggested by it, and so cannot escape the duty of investigating on the ground of the strength of his convictions; and necessary, because those who are not yet capable of controlling their feelings and thoughts must have a plain rule dealing with overt acts.” (pg. 3; paragraph 2)

Premises 1 and 2 are conclusion; therefore, I think this argument is valid. There are some proof that god may existent, but I do not think those are enough. If there are not enough proof, how can we believe he does exist. This is a reconstruct arguments from William K. Clifford The Ethics of Belief. By just look are the title, it is natural to associate with religious beliefs. The article begins with a relatively simple and investigative study. The author cites a ship owner facing a dilapidated ship, whether to repair it or secretly convince himself that there may be no luck. In our society, there are still many “shipowners”. Some people would not willing to spent time and money to investigate even thought they already know about problems. Those people would rather to believe in intuition or other people’s opinions. According to WK Clifford that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” This mistake is more reflected in the moral level and is a kind of attachment in everyone’s cogitation. Faith is a higher level of confirmation and determination than belief. Also, Religion is the most powerful belief in my point of view. The author analyzes and dissects it through constant questions. At the same time, by comparing with other religions, find out the possible fallacies. Therefore, the author can get the conclusion he has confirmed from whether a person has honest quality and knowledge he believes, to believe in one’s judgment. Another side author’s point of view is the limitations of reasoning, like a person who constantly becomes a person who questions everything, will also go to the other extreme. We no longer believe in things beyond our experience, we dare not take risks again. Therefore, the author proposes a solution, we can increase our experience according to the assumption of the unity of nature. If a statement is beyond or beyond the unity of nature, we have no reason to believe its authenticity. Of course, as mentioned in the preface, a person has the right to believe in anything he wants to believe. You can also not believe it.

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