In This Essay Clifford Argues Against Pascalian Wagers and Against

In this essay Clifford argues against Pascalian wagers and against all pragmatic justification for religious belief. He contends that believing involves ethical principles, so we violate our moral duty if we obtain beliefs where the evidence is insufficient. Such acquisitions of beliefs are tantamount to theft. Clifford begins this essay by relating the story of a shipowner who sends a ship full of emigrants out to sea, knowing that the ship is old and not well built. The shipowner stifles doubts and launches it anyway, sincerely trusting Providence to care for it. When it sinks and all passengers are drowned, he collects his insurance money without a trace of guilt. Clifford argues that sincerity in no way excuses the shipowner because "he had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him." The rest of the essay is a discussion of the ethics of acquiring beliefs on insufficient evidence.
-Clifford believes that no proposition can be shown to be conclusively true.