Rationality

Is there a difference between blind faith and faith? Doesn't faith in a certain sense have to be blind to rational.

Comments

Tough question! In a very fine book, The Concept of Faith, Lad Sessions argues that there are at least four different kinds of faith. But setting aside Sessions more ambitious, technical proposals and work, I believe the term "faith" in English can be used either to describe the object of belief (for example one may speak of the Christian Faith) or trust. In the latter sense, faith may involve hope, belief, reason. It need not be "blind" --which I assume means something like 'on the basis of very little, if any evidence.' I suggest faith can be based on tremendous evidence even rising to the level of knowledge. I have faith in my neighbor's integrity as I feel I know him well and have seen him act with integrity when things were highly stressful. In a religious context, one may claim to believe in (for example) God or to have faith in God and this may be a way of disclaiming CERTAINTY or KNOWLEDGE. After all, those who follow some religious traditions are sometimes referred to as "believers" rather than "knowers"! But I do not think this need imply the faith is "blind" or not backed up with good reasons.

If you would like to look into this further, Pennelhum has a good book called Fideism.

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