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About this quote

What does it mean?
Huxley defines morality as stopping lies, false beliefs without evidence, and talking about things we cannot know.
In plain terms
Morality means not lying or believing things without proof.
What can you take from it?
Be honest and only believe what can be proven.

Where it applies

  • personal conduct
  • scientific method
  • public discourse

Putting it to work

  • reject unsupported claims
  • practice intellectual honesty

Questions to consider

  • Can faith be moral without evidence?
  • What counts as evidence?

Another view

Defining morality solely by evidence ignores emotional or spiritual truths.

More from Thomas Henry Huxley

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  2. The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every g…

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  3. Science ... commits suicide when it adopts a creed.

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