The Analytical Examination of Faith From the Viewpoint of Robert Audi

In an effort to investigate the nature of faith, Robert Audi, the famous contemporary philosopher, discusses various types of faith that are internally interrelated and whose common component is the entailment of cognitive propositions. In addition to accepting the various types of faith, he sets the propositional, attitudinal, and universal faith as the basis and takes faith as a positive attitude to the truthfulness of religious propositions that is accompanied by the tendency to believe in the propositions, one that brings about action. Moreover, he puts emphasis on the non-doxastic propositional faith in which faith is not necessarily belief, but rather, it is only the potential for belief and in fact is a type of trust in religious propositions. For Audi, faith – with all of its components – agrees with his intended rationality. In his epistemic system, faith has a very important role in the justification of religious beliefs. In fact, religious obligations – such as belief, faith, and act – justify belief in God if they are rational. The present study analyzes the nature of faith from the viewpoint of Audi; examines its relationship with belief, rationality, and action; and finally evaluates it. Audi’s view to the nature of faith faces some problems, especially the non-doxastic propositional faith to which he attaches great importance and by which he justifies to a great deal the religious belief, such that it be not confirmed by the divine religions and believers in a religion, though it is a way to consider people whose views are not at the belief level as faithful.