Introduction
The subject of philosophy of religion is complex but exciting because of the possibility of discovering a variety of opinions. A number of ideas were introduced in the 19th century, and such authors as William Kingdom Clifford and William James remain the brightest contributors to the field. In both words, the philosophers discovered the same subject that is the significance of faith and beliefs through the prism of evidence. In his essay “The Ethics of Belief”, Clifford discussed the importance of formulating human beliefs in regard to available evidence. Despite situations, knowledge, and past experiences, it is an obligation for a person to use sufficient evidence in order to introduce and protect a belief. Compared to such a radical thesis of Clifford, James’s approach allows the possibility to combine knowledge and passions that may influence society in different settings. The role of sentiments is lawful, and it is normal to leave questions open to enhance passionate discussion on it. Both ideas make sense, and the goal of this review is to compare the opinions of James and Clifford to strengthen an understanding of the connection between beliefs, evidence, and sentiments.
Summary
The chosen articles aim to discuss the conditions under which a reasonable belief must be formulated. However, the role of evidence may be differently discovered, and the analyses offered by Clifford and James serve as strong examples of how the representatives of the same epoch could view the same topic. In general, Clifford performed the role of a defender of sufficient evidence, and James supported sentiments in decision-making.
Clifford began his discussion with a story of a shipowner who knew about defects of the ship but allowed sailing. The man “put his trust in Providence” without even trying to gather enough facts and check a factual condition of a ship. As a result, the ship and people in it sank, having no opportunity to be saved. Clifford concluded that “he had no right to believe on such evidence”, and it was a mistake to acquire “his beliefs not by honestly earning it in patient investigation, but by stifling his doubts”. In this essay, the author wanted to find a connection between human beliefs and actions. The example of a shipowner proved that as soon as a belief is built and fixed, there is a tendency to behave in a certain way. Insufficient or the lack of evidence results in poorly developed judgments, and a wrong solution made by one person could change the lives of millions of people. Therefore, it is expected to gather as much sufficient evidence as possible and use it carefully.
The article written by James as a part of a lecture begins with several clear definitions and explanations. The author explained their importance because they may contradict commonly used terms; thus it is necessary to learn them and understand his intentions. A hypothesis as “anything that may be proposed to our belief” can be live (a real possibility) or dead (impossibility). Options, both living and dead, forced and avoidable, momentous and trivial, determine the way of how a person is able to evaluate a situation and make a decision. In comparison to Clifford, who promoted the possibility of believing in nothing, James underlined the role of feelings and allowed errors to happen. He said that this world is not perfect, and “a certain lightness of heart seems healthier than this excessive nervousness on their behalf”. Considering the achievements of James, religion should exist because it is one of the possible ways to recognize the needs and interests of people and consider them in life.
Assessment
Reviewing the works done by Clifford and James, one should admit that their main distinction lies in their attitudes towards evidence and its contribution to the formulation of a belief. On the one hand, evidentialism offered by Clifford has its strengths and weaknesses because people are free to develop their own opinions and take actions in accordance with their knowledge and available resources. Clifford himself recognized certain challenges in his position due to the impossibility of predicting outcomes of all human decisions. On the other hand, there is James with his doubts, errors, and opinions. He stated, “passionate nature influencing us in our opinions” and “there are some options between opinions in which this influence must be regarded both as an inevitable and as a lawful determinant of our choice.” Following these arguments, both authors did well in identifying their values and morals. There is no right or wrong answer to the question of how to create a belief. It is the responsibility of society to weight their resources and define their future actions.
The strengths of Clifford’s essay include the use of clear real-life examples and the presence of definite facts. The author did not want to provide the reader with a choice but gave statements that did matter. One of his well-known propositions is that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence”. Clifford used the example of the shipowner and his neglect of ship’s recheck or the inhabitants of the island where a religious teacher failed to follow commonly accepted doctrines to explain his position. When people prefer to take everything for granted and avoid an opportunity to improve their knowledge by reading books or addressing different sources, they take sin against mankind. When a person has doubts about something, it is obligatory to work with available evidence and check all options to find out sufficient explanations and definitions. Beliefs do play a significant role in human life, but only if they are well-grounded and commonly proved.
In case of James, another definition of terms is given to prove that beliefs can be built in regard to human sentiments and emotions. If Clifford found it necessary to use real examples and situations, Jams based his discussion on the works of other writers, Clifford’s included. For example, following Hume, James explained that things are “the whole fabric of the truth”, and people should not believe in all of them in case they are unseen. Another support was found in work by Pascal, who believed that Christianity had to be approved by reasoning resembled with “the stakes of a game of chance”. It means that people are free to choose what to believe, following their personal interests or the nature of things. Still, James mentioned that human will could not influence human beliefs. For example, if a man truly likes to believe that his wife can survive in a car crash after getting serious injuries, he cannot make himself believe in positive outcomes. It turns out to be clear that the nature of injuries contradicts the possibility of survival, and the person’s beliefs must include such evidence.
Therefore, it seems that Clifford had a definite position to use strong evidence and was not going to change it by any means. James relied on human passions and the possibility to use different sentiments to influence beliefs. At the same time, the task is not to understand how people must formulate their attitudes but to get a good guide on what should be done. In both cases, the authors failed to provide the reader with a chance to study how to search for evidence (Clifford) or how to choose between emotions (James). According to Clifford, “our lives are guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by social purposes”. People use their properties to make decisions, improve their lives, and choose necessary directions. However, the weakness of the discussion is that no clear examples of how to differentiate good and bad things were given. Similar shortages are observed in James’s article, who said that “faith in a fact can help create the fact”. The reader does not get a clear picture of how the already established faith was formed.
The worth of evidence is discussed in terms of agnosticism and pragmatism. Evidentialism is the choice made by Clifford, who wanted to make people avoid defining statements as true if they are not supported by good evidence. However, such a radical point of view questions the importance of religious beliefs because if Clifford was correct, then religious beliefs and faith in God is not only impossible but also wrong. His thoughts gave rise to agnosticism and the necessity to investigate previous decisions that were based on faith, including killing each other for religious benefits. Still, many aspects remain unclear in Clifford’s work because the reader should know how to understand what evidence is sufficient, and Clifford did not give clear instructions. James, in his turn, approved the possibility of situations when sufficient evidence should be a determinant. He tried to prove the importance of knowing the truth and avoid errors, but these concepts should not be compatible. Being a pragmatic philosopher, James wanted to base faith on personal opinions and external motivators rather than evidence and facts. His major weakness is the absence of a major controller who possesses power.
In general, the offered readings help clarify the idea of faith in the modern world through evidence gathering and passion evaluation. Many people find it necessary to support the position developed by Clifford that evidence cannot be neglected in belief’s formulation. As soon as sufficient evidence is obtained, it is easy and lawful to make judgments and behave without being accused of something wrong. However, as well as any opinion, Clifford’s one is characterized by certain shortages, including the lack of guidelines and criteria according to which evidence may be classified as wrong or right. James is the author of an opposite opinion to add the worth of sentiments to human actions. Although evidence plays a significant role, the supporters of James believe that sometimes passion cannot be ignored. Therefore, religion and faith in God can be approved only in James’s discussion. Despite weakly organized examples, his essay makes sense and contributes to the philosophy of religion. The opposition between Clifford and James strengthens religious beliefs and the need for evidence in human life.
Bibliography
Clifford, William Kingdom. “The Ethics of Belief.” Contemporary Review 29 (1877): 289-309.
James, William. The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1896.