the ethics of belief

The ethics of belief, written by WK Clifford warn about the dangers of selective thinking and believing. The standard form of his argument looks like this:

1. all beliefs influence action in some way or another.
2. actions based unjustified beliefs cause harm directly
3. actions based on unjustified beliefs promote credulity

C:   therefore, it is always wrong to hold unjustified beliefs

I woud not consider this argument valid. Therefore it is not sound either. The argument loses validity when the word “all” is used, implying that there are absloutely no belief that one can hold that doesn’t influence their actions. This is simply not true. There are beliefs that one may hold, while still being able to set those view points aside while making primative decisions. The idea of making decisions based on unjustified beliefs is one that is very prominent in the criminal justice system today. A judge’s job is to determine whether or not someone is guilty of a criminal act based on evidence presented. If a judge were to let an unjustified belief influence a verdict, it would only criminalize the judge.

One fallacy that stood out to me in this text was the “sunk cost” fallacy. This fallacy outlines the impact that past experiences have on our future decision making. This could also be applied to the formation of beliefs. Generally, we form and hold beliefs based on our personal experiences. This however, does not make them fully applicable and justified in every situation.

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