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Title: The Ethics of Belief and Other Essays (Great Books in Philosophy) by Timothy J. Madigan, William K. Clifford ISBN: 1-57392-691-4 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: May, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Avoid Burger's book
Comment: Burger's book is a poor buy, as Burger's analysis is weak. It is a book of polemic rather than philosophical depth and his writing is much poorer than either Clifford's or James's.

Clifford's fundamental assumptions are circular - he states that "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence". However, he offers no evidence in support of this assertion, thus failing his own test.

The thesis of foundationalism has been successfully refuted by Alvin Plantinga and others (see his "Warranted Christian Belief"), but this essay still remains the archetype of the classical foundationalist approach.

Rating: 4
Summary: There is a better book for "The Ethics of Belief"
Comment: First, it is good that some of Clifford's essays are again in print, as they are important and very well written. If you want some of Clifford's essays from his out-of-print book LECTURES AND ESSAYS (aside from the justly famous "The Ethics of Belief"), this is your only choice, unless you want a used copy, which will probably be extremely difficult to find. Too bad, though, that Prometheus did not choose to reprint the entire first edition of LECTURES AND ESSAYS instead of this 'sampler'.

If, however, you are primarily interested in the essay "The Ethics of Belief" or the subject matter of belief, you would be far better off with a different book: THE ETHICS OF BELIEF: Essays by William Kingdon Clifford, William James, and A.J. Burger, edited by A.J. Burger, ISBN 1-93133-07-6 (paper) or 1-931333-08-4 (cloth). In that book, you get "The Ethics of Belief" based on the first edition (the Prometheus version is evidently NOT based on the first edition), complete and unabridged, with added explanatory material (ever wonder about Clifford's cryptic remarks about Spanish engineers? Burger provides an answer). You also can read James' more famous response (even though it is quite inferior to Clifford's essay) and Burger's interesting response to James. With Burger's book, you get the views of three writers on this important subject, instead of only one.

So, the bottom line is this: If you want some of Clifford's essays other than "The Ethics of Belief", buy this book. But if you are primarily interested in "The Ethics of Belief", then buy Burger's book instead.