Clifford s Views On Religion - 1488 Words

Clifford makes an excellent point that we should take into consideration all beliefs and ethics. But his philosophy that â€Å"it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence† is a little harsh for me. On the other hand James’ more faith-filled philosophy based on his view of religion, recognizing facts and the truth and how the choices we make in our lives effect us everyday are some of the more relatable ethics that we can apply in our daily lives and to give us some guidance in a life full of so many choices. As we know many people have a stance on religion just like WK Clifford who has a very strong view about religion, but some do not agree. William James for examples thinks that, Clifford’s principles should be not to be applied to religious beliefs because as he points out moral questions cannot simply be settled by the facts. James argues that we have a right to believe in some cases, when supporting evidence may be lacking. James sees the basic idea of religion as having two parts that the best things are the eternal things, and that you will be better off in the here and now if you believe this. An example of something we almost all believe in without sufficient evidence, is the emotions we feel often every day. The many emotions we feel everyday such as happiness, anger, or even sympathy are very often morally relevant to us. Emotions are not settled by facts we just feel them and for sometimes no reason at all. LikeShow MoreRelatedDoes Clifford Offer a Convincing View of Religious Faith1803 Words   |  8 PagesDoes Clifford offer a convincing view of religious faith? In his article â€Å"The Ethics of Belief (Clifford, 1877) W.K. Clifford sought to argue that â€Å"it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence† (as cited on p190). The aim of this essay is to establish whether indeed this view offered by Clifford, when considering religious faith, is convincing. In order to do this I will consider the arguments that Clifford put forward, including that which toRead MoreDefining Religion1029 Words   |  5 PagesWhen searching for the meaning of the term religion one most go a long way in making an extensive search to actually form a definition that can fit such a broad word. There is no one definition that can satisfy all religions and remain true to all religions throughout its answer. There are many different views and definitions of the word and it is very hard to come up with a reasonable definition that sums such a massive expression up. Religion when used as a single word is almost im possible to defineRead MoreThe Will You Believe By William James1424 Words   |  6 Pages In the essay â€Å"The Will to Believe†, William James criticizes the views of W.K Clifford, who held the belief that no one should ever go beyond evidence when forming an opinion. James thinks that our reasoning has to sometimes use other considerations apart from what the evidence points to. He claims that if our primary aim is to have true beliefs, then we sometimes have to take the risk of believing without strong evidence and let our passion decide or we are guaranteed to believe in the wrongRead MoreThe Revival of Indigenous Movements1862 Words   |  7 Pagesrelic of the past, although relativists and cultural realists like Clifford Geertz have always been able to accept cultures and ways of life on their own terms rather than trying to fit them into rigid laws and frameworks of social and economic development. Even Durkheim and Marx, who regarded urban, industrial capitalism as producing a society of anomie, alienation and isolated individuals did not advocate a return to traditional religion or the feudal or tribal past, but instead for progress towardRead MoreThe American Colonies : How They Shaped Societies And Politics1242 Words   |  5 PagesMatthew Blake Kimberly Taft History 131 24 July 2015 Religion in the American Colonies: How They Shaped Societies and Politics. The main reason so many immigrants fled from Europe was to free themselves from religious persecution. They were being forced to either believe a certain way or pay for a specific religion to be in their country, they were not allowed to believe or practice their beliefs openly without detriment of some sort. The New World was new and had endless possibility and opportunityRead MoreBuddhism : Buddhism Vs. Christianity1247 Words   |  5 Pagesan active role in religion. According to Clifford Geertz, religion can be defined as â€Å"a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivations in both men and women by formulating conceptions of general order of existence†. Every religion has some assembly of rituals and/or symbols that help form and shape its practices. However, do some religions have more rituals and symbols than others? When comparing Buddhism to my own religion, Christianity, BuddhismRead MoreAnalysis Of Meanings A nd Concepts Of Culture Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pagescapacity to influence the human behaviour. This takes us back to the ancient Greece, where culture was something you could only learn and so possible only to the upper range population. An important definition of cultures that from the anthropologist Clifford Geertz, whereby culture is a structure of meanings historically transmitted in a system of conceptions inherited expressed in symbolic forms with which people communicate, perpetuate and develop their own knowledge and their attitudes toward lifeRead MoreDo Religion, Spirituality And Health Concepts Have Any Relationship?1632 Words   |  7 PagesDo religion, spirituality and health concepts have any relationship? This this the question that comes to mind when measuring influence of religious identity and participation in health and illness responses. A lot of controversies were noted due to lack of consensus when researchers attempted to define and conceptualize religion (Koenig, King Carson, 2012). Online search through publications such as, online dictionary, CINAHL Plus, E-Journal yielded distinctive, but unrelated results. Merriam-WebsterRead MoreThe Reason Why La Tomatina893 Words   |  4 Pagesit is messy and people get hurt if they slip over. In this special celebration, there is no political or religion importance to La Tomatina. In 1980, the organization of the festival became the responsibility of the town. Soon this celebration became internationally considerable and highly broadcasted by the use of international media. In the beginning, it was forbidden in the early 1950 s but people spoke and the celebration was allowed with more contestants and more frenetic feelings. The festivityRead MoreEssay on John Adams and Thomas Jefferson1726 Words   |  7 Pages Adams and Jefferson shared the same view in advocating for reconciliation and calling for Americans to stand up for their independence because they both believed that the country could not be able to progress under ruling of Britain.[3] Adams and Jefferson also together supported the bill of rights in order to protect citizens and other government’s members from presidents’ having limitless power and becoming â€Å"tyrants.†[4] The many common political views shared between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson