Faith
Faith is strong and unshakeable trust in God.[1] Religious thinkers have explained it in two main ways: as a supernatural virtue given by God's grace, and as something tied to evidence and to the psychological security that belief brings.[1]
Faith, opinion and knowledge
The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas placed faith between opinion and knowledge. Faith is like opinion in that it is not proved, but like knowledge in the certainty with which it is held. For Aquinas, faith is needed to supplement reason.[1] The Jewish philosopher Maimonides likewise argued that revelation and the authority of teaching are needed alongside reason.[1]
The wider idea of belief is sometimes described in similar terms: a conviction based on trust that sits between knowledge and opinion. The philosopher G. A. Cohen wrote of a "culture of conviction", and Polanyi and Hume are also discussed in connection with belief.[2]
Is faith rational?
Whether faith is compatible with reason is a long-running debate. Duncan Pritchard sets out several positions:[3]
- Evidentialism, associated with John Locke, says religious belief is rational only if it is backed by evidence that any rational person should accept.
- Fideism, associated with Søren Kierkegaard and Ludwig Wittgenstein, says religious belief is "arational": a matter of faith, not evidence,.
- Quasi-fideism holds that the most basic convictions in every area of life, not only religion, rest on a commitment that is not itself based on evidence. If so, religious beliefs built on such a commitment can still be rational.
- Reformed epistemology, associated with Alvin Plantinga, compares belief in God to everyday beliefs based on perception, which are rational without independent proof.
These views are explored further in Epistemic responsibility.
J. Adam Carter notes an unexpected agreement: a fideist and an atheist may both accept that evidence cannot establish God's existence, while disagreeing about what that means for belief.[4]
Faith and the will
The philosopher William James argued in The Will to Believe that faith can be reasonable even without sufficient evidence, when a choice is living, forced and momentous. He held that our will and feelings rightly play a part in what we believe.[5]
Faith and hope
Dean Zimmerman discusses when belief in an afterlife might be criticised as an "unjustified leap of faith", and whether hoping for an afterlife is justified. He notes that believing, hoping and acting as if something is true are different attitudes.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Faith". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. pp. 76–77.
- ↑ "Belief". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. pp. 30–31.
- ↑ Pritchard, Duncan; Harris, Mark (2017). "Is there a fundamental tension between faith and rationality?". Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone. Routledge.
- ↑ Pritchard, Duncan; Harris, Mark (2017). "Are theism and atheism totally opposed? (J. Adam Carter)". Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone. Routledge.
- ↑ "James, William". Philosophy of Religion A-Z. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. p. 105.
- ↑ Draper, Paul, ed. (2019). "Chapter 5 (Dean Zimmerman)". Current Controversies in Philosophy of Religion. Routledge.