[Buddha-l] Re: Spread of Buddhism

[dhammanando at csloxinfo.com]

Bill Kish:

>> "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for every one, to believe 
>> anything upon insufficient evidence."  -- William Clifford

> Did Clifford intend the above statement to be taken seriously ?

He seems to me to have been pretty serious.

> If so, I am curious what evidence he provided to justify such a
> strong knowledge claim.

If you go to this link:

http://ajburger.homestead.com/files/book.htm

you can read Clifford's essay, _The Ethics of Belief_,
together with Wm James' _The Will to Believe_ (a defence of
faith and in part a critique of Clifford), and  A.J.
Burger's _An Examination of The Will to Believe'_ (a
contemporary defence of Clifford and critique of James,
though rather a jejune one, imo).

Best wishes,

Dhammanando