W K Clifford Quotes

I CAN, of course, put myself into the sectarian scientist's attitude, and imagine vividly that the world of sensations and of scientific laws and objects may be all. But whenever I do this, I hear that inward monitor of which W. K. Clifford once wrote, whispering the word "bosh!" Humbug is humbug, even though it bear the scientific name, and the total expression of human experience, as I view it objectively, invincibly urges me beyond the narrow "scientific" bounds.

The idea that only things established by science and reason are true is expressed in strong form by philosopher W.K. Clifford’s axiom: “It is wrong always, everywhere, for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” Of course, Clifford doesn’t answer the pressing question of what counts as sufficient evidence. Taken in a straightforward way, then, his axiom creates a large problem for the scientific community, because unless someone has access to the necessary equipment or data, most of us have to believe the scientific authorities, whom Nietzsche scathingly derided as priests of the modern world.