In 'The Ethics of Belief' (1877) William Kingdon Clifford gives three reasons for believeing that belief without evidence is morally wrong (quoted from the article):
- every single belief has the capacity to be truly consequential
- poor practices of belief-formation turn us into careless, credulous believers
- we have the moral responsibility not to pollute the well of collective knowledge
I am always wary of arguments that conclude that we have a 'duty' or 'responsibility' because these are easily abused by others and almost always require that we act against our own self-interest, sometimes in devastating ways. But each of these can be seen in a way that aligns the collective interest with perosnal interest, and that's what gives them force.
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