“Belief without evidence to support it is always morally wrong”

[Joe Carillo]

Very likely, clerics and ideologues of all stripes the world over wouldn’t want your eyes on this.

In a shockingly provocative essay nearly 150 years ago, a young English mathematician and philosopher asserted that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” William Kingdon Clifford, whose work in mathematics uncannily presaged that of Albert Einstein’s in the latter’s epoch-making “Theory of Relativity,” asserted in “The Ethics of Belief” (1877) that we have the moral obligation to believe responsibly; that is, to believe only what we have sufficient evidence for, and what we have diligently investigated.


(Left photo) WILLIAM KINGDON CLIFFORD   
(Right photo) If I believe it is raining outside... “The Umbrella” (1883) by Marie Bashkirtseff. Courtesy
the State Russian Museum/Wikipedia

As recently explicated by Hong Kong-based economist-philosopher and banker Francisco Mejia Uribe in the Aeon.co website, the youthful Clifford gave these three major arguments to support his assertion that believing without evidence is always morally wrong:

1. Our beliefs influence our actions. Everyone would agree that our behavior is shaped by what we take to be true about the world – which is to say, by what we believe.

2. Poor practices of belief-formation turn us into careless, credulous believers. “No real belief, however trifling and fragmentary it may seem,” Clifford said, “is ever truly insignificant; it prepares us to receive more of its like, confirms those which resembled it before, and weakens others..” Indeed, careless believing turns us into easy prey for fake-news peddlers, conspiracy theorists, and charlatans.

3. As communicators of belief, we have the moral responsibility not to pollute the well of collective knowledge. Because of our capacity to communicate, Clifford argued, “our words, our phrases, our forms and processes and modes of thought” become “common property.” Subverting this “heirloom,” as he called it, by adding false beliefs is immoral because everyone’s lives ultimately rely on this vital, shared resource.

And in a warning against those who believe or foist belief without evidence, Clifford wrote these words of caution: “If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call in question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it — the life of that man is one long sin against mankind.”

Read “Believing without evidence is always morally wrong” in the Aeon.co website now!

RELATED READINGS:
Biography of William Kingdon Clifford (1845 - 1879)

(Discussion thread follows in the next panel)

(February 24, 2019: Related slice of TV journalist Ina Reformina's Twitter Page follows in the third panel of this discussion)

[Joe Carillo]

This discussion thread about the article posted above, “Belief without evidence to support it is always morally wrong,” came from my November 10, 2018 notice announcing it in my Facebook Gateway to the Forum. I am reposting it here in the Forum for those who may want to share their views pro or con about this admittedly provocative subject. Simply log on with your Forum user name and start posting your views.

Nonmembers may also join the discussion but they need to first register as Forum members. Simply go to the Forum homepage at http://josecarilloforum.com and look for the Member Registration button. Membership is free and applications are normally approved within 24 hours.

What follows verbatim is an initial exchange of views with my Facebook friend Ime Cerillo, who lives in the United States with her husband Bob Wolin. A former partner of the Del Rosario & Del Rosario Law Offices in the Philippines, Ime is an alumna of the University of the Philippines College of Law, class of 1989, and of the University of Santo Tomas, Institute of Accounting, class of 1974.


Ime Cerillo  How appropriate in this day and age!


Jose A. Carillo  Maybe so, Ime, but centuries of faith-based indoctrination on many fronts has made the world intractably belief-based without proof nor sense of rationality. Take a look at the world's 2015 religion pie-chart. Who'd dare attempt to reconfigure that pie with rationality in mind? tinyurl.com/y7ykrqvn

Ime Cerillo Jose A. Carillo That’s what faith is all about.


Jose A. Carillo  You're absolutely right, Ime, but I'm afraid that the world is no better and will remain no better for it.


Ime Cerillo Jose A. Carillo  Probably. Unscrupulous people always take advantage of the gullible.


Jose A. Carillo  I don't think only unscrupulous people take advantage of the gullible, Ime. Many religious missionaries and ideologues, who are mostly converts and carriers of unproven but deep-seated--even feigned--belief or philosophies, do it all the time as a way of life. They do it to control the minds of the gullible, acquire power and dominion over them, and generate immense wealth for themselves. You know that they have become even more influential and dominant today owing to the immense power and reach of modern telecommunication media.


Ime Cerillo Jose A. Carillo  Those missionaries and ideologues you are referring to are unscrupulous in my dictionary. Oh yes, I truly get what you mean. The proliferation of different cult-like “beliefs” is proof of the increasing gullibility of the human race, and of course there are those who are ready to jump on that gullibility. I still maintain my stance on faith, faith with discernment not blind faith. A questioning mind is indispensable. But most people want the easy way out, and that is always an option.


Jose A. Carillo   Ime, extreme fanaticism wasn't an exclusive preserve of the medieval or pre-Enlightenment mind. Look at its present-day manifestations both here in our country and abroad. Doesn't it look like the human mind hasn't really made great progress towards rationality despite greater fact-based knowledge and enormous advances in science and technology? Should most if not all of humanity remain captive to irrational beliefs forever? What can be done to help change this wretched state of affairs?

Ime Cerillo Jose A. Carillo  I was almost tempted to say Education is the way. But then I look at the ideologues, the missionaries, the politicians, and their followers...they’re not all uneducated. I believe, in it’s purest form, the human mind can sift through and discern what is factual, what is irrational, and what is knowable. But we live in a world where greed, want, envy, and hunger for power pollute the mind. In the back of their minds, people know what is true, what is moral, but they choose to look the other way if the truth or morality runs counter to their desires.

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Forum members are welcome to join this conversation if they have views pro or con that they would like to share about this subject. Simply log on with your Forum user name and start posting your views.

[Joe Carillo]

A slice of TV Journalist Ina Reformina's Twitter Page:
CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO VIEW THE PAGE