Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Clifford's Principle and Clifford's Other Principle

Clifford’s Principle:
To sum up: it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

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Source: William Kingdon Clifford, "The Ethics of Belief," The Contemporary Review 29 (January 1877): 295.
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Clifford’s Other Principle:
It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to ignore evidence that is relevant to his beliefs, or to dismiss relevant evidence in a facile way.”

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Source: Peter Van Inwagen, “It is Wrong, Everywhere, Always, and for Anyone, to Believe Anything upon Insufficient Evidence,” in Faith, Freedom and Rationality, ed. J. Jordan and D. Howard-Snyder (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), 145.

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