W.k. clifford biography

4 May 1845 � 3 March 1879

"William Kingdon Clifford was a noted mathematician, philosopher and popularizer of science in the Victorian era.

Although he made major contributions in the field of geometry, he is perhaps best known for a short essay he wrote in 1876, entitled 'The Ethics of Belief', in which he argued that 'It is wrong always, everywhere, and for any one, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence'.

Delivered initially as an address to the August Metaphysical Society, whose members included such luminaries as Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Gladstone, T. H. Huxley, and assorted clerics, scientists, and philosophers of differing metaphysical views, 'The Ethics of Belief' became a rallying cry for freethinkers and a bone of contention for religious apologists.

It continues to be discussed today as an exemplar of what is called 'evidentialism', a key point in current philosophy of religion debates over justification of knowledge claims." [Madigan]

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