Rationality of religious belief according to William Kingdon Clifford and William James

Rationality of religious beliefs has been among the main topics in philosophy of religion. Core of the debates basically depends on what kind of justification provides the rationality of religious beliefs. For strict rationalism merely epistemic justification is the rationality criterion whereas non-epistemic justification can also be the rationality criterion for pragmatists. Within this context comparison of the philosophy of religion of William Kingdon Clifford as an agnostic evidentialist and that of William James as an apologetic of pragmatic conception of faith is the subject of this thesis. Basic concern of this comparison is W. K. Clifford's "The Ethics of Belief" and W. James's "The Will to Believe" as a criticism and response to the former. Clifford's principle "it is wrong, always, everywhere and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence" is a summary of what "The Ethics of Belief" claims. Rational belief is the one acquired according to the total evidence after inquiring both positive and negative evidence. Despite doubts about the truth of the proposition or by grounding subjective factors holding a belief isn't rational since it's blameworthy. As an argument asserting religious beliefs must meet the epistemic standards evidentialist principle demands, "The Ethics of Belief" is a main text of evidentialist objection. For W. K. Clifford religious beliefs don't have evidential support. Being beyond human experience justification of revelation is impossible. Positive outcomes in the society can not also be the evidence for rationality of any religious doctrines. "Proportion your belief to your evidence; if there isn't any sufficient evidence, don't believe the proportion" constitutes the normative imperative of "The Ethics of Belief". Against this imperative "The Will to Believe" is the defense of rationality of believing without sufficient evidence. For W. James if hypothesis has epistemic parity or uncertainty and option is genuine, we have a right to believe on our passional nature. Religious beliefs have existential teleological meanings. They suppose that universe is the art of a deity and everything has a purpose in this divine order. Every category in seeking the meaning of life becomes meaningful with the belief of God. W. James is right to define religious beliefs as genuine options because of these functions they have. Although W. K. Clifford argues beliefs must be based on merely epistemic justifications, non-epistemic justifications also have great functions in asserting a proposition. Key Words: Belief, rationality, "The Ethics of Belief," "The Will to Believe."