In 1877 the mathematician William Kingdon Clifford publishes The Ethics of Belief, arguing that it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. Clifford's essay gives naturalism its moral discipline: credulity, not doubt, is the sin against mankind.
Tagged: Naturalism
The Event
- Date
- 1877 (exact)
- Era
- The Darwinian Century; Standard periodization of naturalist history
- Location
- London; today London, England
- Traditions
- Naturalism
- Streams
- Naturalism
- Key figures
- William Kingdon Clifford
- Key texts
- The Ethics of Belief
Primary Sources
- Clifford, William Kingdon. The Ethics of Belief. Contemporary Review, 1877.
Secondary Sources
- De Caro, Mario, and David Macarthur, eds. Naturalism in Question. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
- Gregory, Frederick. Scientific Materialism in Nineteenth Century Germany. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1977.
- Papineau, David. Philosophical Naturalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993.
Provenance: HIST-1409; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
Related on This Site
History Event
Büchner's Force and Matter
1855
History Event
D'Holbach's System of Nature
1770
History Event
Huxley's Man's Place in Nature
1863
History Event
La Mettrie's Man a Machine
1747
History Event
Laplace's Exposition of the System of the World
1796
History Event
Mill's A System of Logic
1843
History Event
Newton's Principia Mathematica
1687
World View
Naturalism
Naturalism holds that nature is all there is: the universe of matter, energy, and natural law needs no god, soul, or purpose beyond itself.