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Summary Of Clifford's Ethics Of Belief

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Clifford writes about the “Ethics of Belief” which he tries to prove his point of view about what he believed was the right way to believe in something or someone. The author starts with two examples to illustrate a wrong and dishonorable way of believing in things. The ship owner is the first example presented, in which the owner of a certain ship believes in the soundness of his ship despite of being unsure if the ship would make due to the fact that it was unsafe to navigate with people onboard. As Clifford argues “He had acquired his belief not by honestly earning it in patient investigation, but by stifling his doubts” (144). As for the second example Clifford uses a similar idea which presents the same concept, the story about the accusers who accused a few men of a crime which ends up being false. However, Clifford once again asserts that the accusers were wrong, as he says “They had sincerely and conscientiously believed in charges they made” (145). …show more content…
The whole idea presented is that faith cannot possibly be connected with reason because faith can be biased and it doesn’t have to present any sort of evidence. Clifford explains the ethics of belief that people are allowed to believe whether there is a God or not, but according to him “and so cannot escape the duty of investigation on the ground of the strength of his convictions” (146). In other words, Clifford implies that it is our duty to balance out our beliefs to the evidence so that all the biased thoughts are eliminated from our minds

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