A Study on Joan Bishop's Moderate Fideism

Joan Bishop introduces a moderate version of fideism according to which we, in some circumstances, have moral right to hold a belief without evidence. His view is somehow a continuance of William James famous view that explained in his "The Will to Believe". Because this view is about moral permeation to have a belief, it already accepted that believing is a kind of voluntary action. The will can affect Belief indirectly and for this reason we have moral responsibility and duties concerning our beliefs. In this paper we focus on the issues of controlling belief and the ethics of belief in Joan Bishop’s moderate fideism and its background in William James’s view.