The Ethics of Belief

I learned an important ethical concept recently through the work of Doug Rose, who teaches a variety of courses on LinkedIn Learning. The concept is called “epistemology through evidence.” Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge, i.e., how people can know if something it true. Mr. Rose explains this concept with reference to an essay titled THE ETHICS OF BELIEF, written by William K. Clifford, a 19th century English mathematician. In this essay, Dr. Clifford argues that it is not moral for people to believe something without sufficient evidence. This is a startling statement, if you think about it.

For those with a subscription to LinkedIn Learning, I would encourage you to take Doug Rose’s course, Data Ethics: Watching Out for Data Misuse.