Nature of Belief- faith

Question 1

Define fideism

Answer 1

solely based on faith without sufficient evidence when referring to religious beliefs

Question 2

Explain Kierkegaard’s fideism

Answer 2

• religious faith is a completely different process to other beliefs as it is a passionate commitment to God
• “I hold stedfast to objective uncertainty”
• “leap of faith”: larger the chasm of evidence, the bigger the leap of faith which shows your extreme and more passionate commitment to God
• “absurd”: God becoming a man is Jesus is an absurd paradox which would require the biggest leap of faith

Question 3

Define Wittgenstein’s theory of language games

Answer 3

• language is internally coherent => meaning of language only makes sense if you are in that ‘game’, truth is not dependent on any evidence

Question 4

Criticisms of language games

Answer 4

• you can’t criticise an alternative language game as you are not immersed into it => how can you have a meaningful debate
• Bertrand Russell: being obsessed with words is like taking apart a clock and not understanding how it works

Question 5

Explain James’ defence of fideism

Answer 5

• argues from a perspective of pragmatism:
  
  • truth is an instrumental value
  • if a belief is useful, that is what makes it true
• beliefs have to be: a choice, mutually exclusive and the decision has to be momentous

Question 6

Evaluate James’ approach to fideism

Answer 6

• Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ is an example of pragmatic faith, yet we all know this was immoral and it was an example of someone inflicting their moral values onto someone
• Dawkins: “religion is a virus”
• Theists would disagree with James’ Pragmatism as God has already provided them with objective truths, so why should it be made so individual
  + - Individualism is good as it allows the scope for belief amongst people, but it comes to undermine the God of classical theism

Question 7

Evaluate Kierkegaard’s fideism

Answer 7

• “I hold steadfast to objective uncertainty” - needs a lack of evidence which surely will only ever provide us with uncertainty which isn’t what a faith should constitute of
  + does emphasise idea of religion being a commitment
• Michael Martin: fideism is no more successful than the traditional or existential and pragmatic approaches to religious faith as there must be some common conceptual framework with which the various forms of life or language games can be evaluated => there must be some criteria for rational assessment

Question 8

Protestant tradition’s view

Answer 8

• emphasised Fallen nature of humans and the corruption of reason
• Luther argues that reason is so weakened we can never understand God => “sola fide” (by faith alone) can you be pardoned for your original sin

Question 9

Plantinga’s view

Answer 9

• reformed epistemologist
• we hold many beliefs without evidence (e.g.: that all people are equal)
• ‘Properly basic’ beliefs = those held without evidence and it is ok to base other beliefs around them

Question 10

Explain Pascal’s wager

Answer 10

• God is “infinitely incomprehensible” => place a wager
• to bet that God exists is more fulfilling than to bet that he does not exist
• not inferior as you have a stronger commitment to God