Reconstruct one of his arguments (not the examples) in standard form. Then evaluate that argument for soundness and validity. What practical significance does Clifford’s thesis have? Do you see any fallacies in Clifford’s reasoning?

Argument Reconstruction in Standard Form

  1. “It is the sense of power attached to a sense of knowledge that makes men desirous of believing, and afraid of doubting.” WK Clifford Pg.5
  2. “This sense of power is the highest and best of pleasures when the belief on which it is founded is a true belief, and has been fairly earned by investigation.” WK Clifford Pg.5
  3. Conclusion: [Therefore], “if the belief has been accepted on insufficient evidence, the pleasure is a stolen one.” WK Clifford Pg.5

Soundness and Validity

My translation from Clifford’s argument is that knowledge brings power and if the knowledge you believe to be true is based on insufficient evidence then, in fact, you do not possess the knowledge or power because they are stolen from you by the person who shared the insufficient evidence. In my opinion, this argument is sound because it is true that being knowledgeable makes one feel powerful. It is also true that one feels even more powerful when the belief they are knowledgeable about is backed with evidence and if it is not then they are no longer knowledgeable about that belief. I’m not sure if I structured the argument the right way but I believe his argument is valid because the premises support each other and lead up to the conclusion that if the belief has insufficient evidence then it takes away the pleasure of having that knowledge and power.

Practical Signifigance Example

Clifford’s thesis is that it is wrong for anyone to believe anything based on insufficient evidence. Suppose you were a juror in a murder trial where the defendant is a 16-year old boy who murdered his father. Based on the evidence you received, all signs point to the boy being guilty. But when the boy gives his final statement, you feel that he is sincere and is not guilty. It is a lot on one’s conscience when they are deciding the fate of such a young soul. So, imagine how heinous it would be for the A.D.A. to hide that they found a small trace of a fingerprint on the murder weapon from a second suspect whom they did not name (the boy’s uncle who is the father’s brother – aged 60). This young man is having his whole future ruined because they gave insufficient evidence. Given that there was insufficient evidence, it would be wrong to convict him.

Fallacies in Clifford’s Reasoning

I found that Clifford had a lot of slippery slope fallacies. The main slippery slope fallacy I found was: “No real belief, however trifling and fragmentary it may seem, is ever truly insignificant; it prepares us to receive more of its
like, confirms those which resembled it before, and weakens others; and so gradually it lays a stealthy train in
our inmost thoughts, which may some day explode into overt action, and leave its stamp upon our character for
ever.”

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