Means to an End: Basis for Belief, Application Essay Example

In “The Duty of Inquiry,” William Clifford obliges critics of his thinking and provides a rebuttal to his own views. Moreover, the opposing claim is by no means specious, but rather indicative of Clifford’s commitment to ultimately support the truth of his view. Clifford’s conviction is that belief must be arrived at through sound processes, and that this inherent worthiness of belief transcends whatever actions ensue from it. By way of opposition, then, he argues that, for many, action is the determinant of the integrity of belief, and it is unjust to fault an individual for belief not based on sound evidence when the consequences are correct. Clifford then goes on to counter this claim, asserting that belief is not so pliable a commodity: “The existence of a belief not founded on fair inquiry unfits a man for the performance of this necessary duty” (787). Put another way, Clifford is fixed on the integrity of belief as only known irrespective of consequences, and the responsibility of all to found belief on sound judgment before any such consequences occur.

There is, however, another objection to be raised to Clifford’s thinking. Namely, it may be argued that he confuses belief with reason, or at least insists on belief as being fully reliant on reason. This essentially calls into question the nature of belief itself, and Clifford does not actually consider the core of his own subject. While belief may certainly arise from processes of deduction and reasoning, and in a wide variety of arenas, it is also very often a visceral construction composed of nothing identifiable. To use Clifford’s own example, the men accusing others of teaching wrong doctrine pursue their course based on no evidence, and the accusations are found to be hollow. Here, then, the belief is invalid because it cannot stand up to evidence of the reality. The belief itself, however, is not constrained by any external forces; the problem arises from what men do with it, so such belief itself is removed from the issue of sound or unsound. It is, simply, belief, so it has a right to exist as such until it is employed in ways extending its power and influence. Only then, through consequence, may belief be judged to be invalid.

The response to this challenge exists in Clifford’s further reflections, although they only obliquely address it. As he notes, it is incorrect, if not dangerously naïve, to allow belief to exist as an independent entity in a world wherein each person’s beliefs must affect the lives of others:

“No one man’s belief is in any case a private matter which concerns himself alone” (790). Belief

may be visceral and generated by an individual’s unique needs and being, but it is also, and inevitably, formed by the larger world surrounding the individual. Belief, in other words, cannot be strictly created from a single consciousness because that consciousness is developed through its interactions with, and appraisals of, the wider world. Consequently, there is reciprocity to all belief; just as it is influenced by what surrounds it, so too dies it influence, and a true understanding of this validates Clifford’s view regarding the necessity of sound judgment as forming belief.

In terms of countering the objection, there is as well the factor of the individual’s responsibility to the self. If belief shapes and is shaped by the world around it, so too is the individual very much shaped by what they choose to believe. Belief is, in fact, a foundation of human character, so the commitment to holding beliefs that are based on evidence goes to the greater validity of the individual’s nature. There is, again, always a “blurred line” between belief as a matter of faith and/or instinct and belief as generated by evidence, but the blurring does not lessen the connection. Belief rests on reason to some extent or it is not belief; it is fancy or supposition. This being the case, and given the importance of belief and how it affects all life, it is all the more essential that great care be taken when belief is first developed. Clifford’s point, then, that inquiry is essential for validity of belief is correct.

Works Cited

Clifford, W. K. “The Ethics of Belief.” Philosophical Inquiry: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Eds. Jonathan E. Adler, Catherine Z. Elgin. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2007. 786-792. Print.