The Ethics of Belief

The Ethics of Belief
Author: William Kingdon Clifford
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2021-04-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN:
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This book combines the two essays which comprise the famous philosophical exchange between the mathematician William Kingdon Clifford and William James, a psychologist and philosopher. Famous for articulating their arguments and discussing morality surrounding belief, these two papers are united in a single edition.

Responsible Belief

Responsible Belief
Author: Rik Peels
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2017
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0190608110
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This book develops and defends a theory of responsible belief. The author argues that we lack control over our beliefs, but that we can nonetheless influence them. It is because we have intellectual obligations to influence our beliefs that we are responsible for them.

The Ethics of Belief

The Ethics of Belief
Author: William Kingdon Clifford
Publisher: DigiCat
Total Pages: 27
Release: 2022-05-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN:
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This book combines the two essays which comprise the famous philosophical exchange between the mathematician William Kingdon Clifford and William James, a psychologist and philosopher. Famous for articulating their arguments and discussing morality surrounding belief, these two papers are united in a single edition.

The Ethics of Belief: Theory

The Ethics of Belief: Theory
Author: Kenneth Cauthen
Publisher: CSS Publishing
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2001
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0788018736
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In these two volumes, Kenneth Cauthen thoroughly examines what he terms "the ethics of belief." Simply stated, Cauthen posits that ethics are a matter of the convictions that individuals and communities have about what is right and wrong, good and evil. He contrasts this with a more traditional view that morality is based upon principles that are universally valid and objectively true. Using a biological and historical approach, in Volume 1 Cauthen systematically develops a theory of Christian ethics based on what love (agape) and justice mean in contemporary society. He examines the interface between our complex civilization and some of the radical demands of the New Testament. Cauthen's ultimate goal is for readers to ask themselves, "How would Christ have us live in the 21st century?" In Volume 2, Cauthen spells out the implications of this ethical theory for a wide variety of contemporary topics. He takes forthright and controversial positions on a number of social and personal issues, including abortion, illegal drugs, prostitution, assisted suicide, capital punishment, church and state relations, religion and politics, democracy, poverty, health care, wealth and income distribution, affirmative action, and homosexuality. The Ethics Of Belief is a thought-provoking work that delves deeply into some of our world's most timely yet timeless issues. A nationally recognized authority on theology and ethics, Kenneth Cauthen is the John Price Crozer Griffith Emeritus Professor of Theology at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School/Crozer Theological Seminary. He is the author of several seminal works that have become standard texts, such as The Impact of American Religious Liberalism, which was selected for a special White House library on American history and culture. His CSS publications include the groundbreaking volumes The Many Faces Of Evil and The Ethics Of Assisted Death. Cauthen received his education from Mercer University (B.A.), Yale Divinity School (B.Div.), Emory University (M.A.), and Vanderbilt University (Ph.D.).

William James on Ethics and Faith

William James on Ethics and Faith
Author: Michael R. Slater
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2009-09-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 052176016X
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A new interpretation of James's ethical and religious thought focusing on the prominent role these views played in his philosophy.

Belief's Own Ethics

Belief's Own Ethics
Author: Jonathan E. Adler
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2006-01-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780262261371
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The fundamental question of the ethics of belief is "What ought one to believe?" According to the traditional view of evidentialism, the strength of one's beliefs should be proportionate to the evidence. Conventional ways of defending and challenging evidentialism rely on the idea that what one ought to believe is a matter of what it is rational, prudent, ethical, or personally fulfilling to believe. Common to all these approaches is that they look outside of belief itself to determine what one ought to believe. In this book Jonathan Adler offers a strengthened version of evidentialism, arguing that the ethics of belief should be rooted in the concept of belief—that evidentialism is belief's own ethics. A key observation is that it is not merely that one ought not, but that one cannot, believe, for example, that the number of stars is even. The "cannot" represents a conceptual barrier, not just an inability. Therefore belief in defiance of one's evidence (or evidentialism) is impossible. Adler addresses such questions as irrational beliefs, reasonableness, control over beliefs, and whether justifying beliefs requires a foundation. Although he treats the ethics of belief as a central topic in epistemology, his ideas also bear on rationality, argument and pragmatics, philosophy of religion, ethics, and social cognitive psychology.

Evidentialism and the Will to Believe

Evidentialism and the Will to Believe
Author: Scott Aikin
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-07-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1623560179
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Work on the norms of belief in epistemology regularly starts with two touchstone essays: W.K. Clifford's "The Ethics of Belief" and William James's "The Will to Believe." Discussing the central themes from these seminal essays, Evidentialism and the Will to Believe explores the history of the ideas governing evidentialism. As well as Clifford's argument from the examples of the shipowner, the consequences of credulity and his defence against skepticism, this book tackles James's conditions for a genuine option and the structure of the will to believe case as a counter-example to Clifford's evidentialism. Exploring the question of whether James's case successfully counters Clifford's evidentialist rule for belief, this study captures the debate between those who hold that one should proportion belief to evidence and those who hold that the evidentialist norm is too restrictive. More than a sustained explication of the essays, it also surveys recent epistemological arguments to evidentialism. But it is by bringing Clifford and James into fruitful conversation for the first time that this study presents a clearer history of the issues and provides an important reconstruction of the notion of evidence in contemporary epistemology.

W. K. Clifford and "The Ethics of Belief"

W. K. Clifford and
Author: Timothy Madigan
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2008-12-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1443802638
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W. K. Clifford (1845-1879) was a noted mathematician and popularizer of science in the Victorian era. Although he made major contributions in the field of geometry, he is perhaps best known for a short essay he wrote in 1876, entitled "The Ethics of Belief", in which he argued that "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." Delivered initially as an address to the august Metaphysical Society (whose members included such luminaries as Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Gladstone, T. H. Huxley, and assorted scientists, clerics and philosophers of differing metaphysical views, "The Ethics of Belief" became a rallying cry for freethinkers and a bone of contention for religious apologists. It continues to be discussed today as an exemplar of what is called 'evidentialism', a key point in current philosophy of religion debates over justification of knowledge claims. In this book, Timothy J. Madigan examines the continuing relevance of "The Ethics of Belief" to epistemological and ethical concerns. He places the essay within the historical context, especially the so-called 'Victorian Crisis of Faith' of which Clifford was a key player. Clifford's own life and interests are dealt with as well, along with the responses to his essay by his contemporaries, the most famous of which was William James's "The Will to Believe." Madigan provides an overview of modern-day critics of Cliffordian evidentialism, as well as examining thinkers who were positively influenced by him, including Bertrand Russell, who was perhaps Clifford's most influential successor as an advocate of intellectual honesty. The book ends with a defense of "The Ethics of Belief" from a virtue-theory approach, and argues that Clifford utilizes an "as-if" methodology to encourage intellectual inquiry and communal truth-seeking.' The Ethics of Belief' continues to provoke and stimulate controversy, which was perhaps Clifford's own fondest hope, although he had no right to believe it would do so.

Believing Against the Evidence

Believing Against the Evidence
Author: Miriam Schleifer McCormick
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2014-10-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1136682686
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The question of whether it is ever permissible to believe on insufficient evidence has once again become a live question. Greater attention is now being paid to practical dimensions of belief, namely issues related to epistemic virtue, doxastic responsibility, and voluntarism. In this book, McCormick argues that the standards used to evaluate beliefs are not isolated from other evaluative domains. The ultimate criteria for assessing beliefs are the same as those for assessing action because beliefs and actions are both products of agency. Two important implications of this thesis, both of which deviate from the dominant view in contemporary philosophy, are 1) it can be permissible (and possible) to believe for non-evidential reasons, and 2) we have a robust control over many of our beliefs, a control sufficient to ground attributions of responsibility for belief.