Faith and Reason
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:24 am
It is sometimes argued that a rational faith is a contradiction in terms. The potential rationality of faith is an important factor in the assessment of the meaning of Christian belief.
In assessing the relation between faith and reason, we do well to avoid facile assumptions about the nature of faith. Faith is easily mocked, given that many people hold opinions by faith which on examination are unfounded. So Mark Twain defined faith as ‘believing things you know aint so,” while Richard Dawkins said faith is a blind vice. Twain’s definition has entered popular secular thought as a devastating critique of religion. But if we consider faith more objectively, there is also a role for faith in statements that are true, and this opens the potential for a virtuous path to reconcile faith and reason.
In the philosophy of science and religion, one of the leading great thinkers of the modern enlightenment, the Scottish philosopher David Hume, made a number of astute logical perceptions. Hume held that we cannot know if the sun will rise tomorrow, if there is a necessary connection between a cause and an effect, or if any statements of morality logically derive from statements of fact.
Against these devastating critiques of the limits of pure reason, Immanuel Kant argued that our knowledge in these areas is necessary as a universal condition of our experience. If principles such as causality, morality and regularity of nature did not work, life would be impossible; therefore causality, morality and regularity are necessary truths. However, the key point is that these beliefs, which Kant termed 'synthetic a priori judgments' are truths of rational faith, not derivations from observation.
Further to Kant’s analysis of rational faith as the basis of good philosophy, there are simple obvious necessary axioms which are ultimately based on faith. These axioms include that the universe exists and obeys consistent physical laws which can be discovered by logic and evidence.
Saying these axioms are matters of faith is not to denigrate belief in reality, but rather to note that such belief is not itself derived from the scientific method but sits as a precondition for science. The scientific model of reality is restricted to testable theories, and falls well short of the requirements of everyday belief which depend on trusting our senses in ways we cannot always test.
In the project of reforming faith to become compatible with reason, all statements of faith can be assessed as phenomena. So for example personal faith in ones’ own ideas can be examined in continuity with broader social theories of faith. Historically, the absolute certainty of faith has both a positive and a negative role in culture and politics.
Our dominant modern ideas of liberal tolerance and freedom produce a healthy skepticism about all absolute claims. When pushed to the logical limit, we should not not equally tolerate true and untrue beliefs, and instead should assess beliefs against their consequences and coherence.
As an example of rational faith, Jesus Christ said that if you have faith you can move mountains. When we look objectively at the movement of mountains by the mining industry, such intangibles as investor confidence, trust in law and technology and money and effective community relations are all necessary matters of faith without which projects cannot proceed.
So faith emerges as a major basis of entrepreneurial investment. We cannot in practice deliver core rational objectives of modern life without a central place for faith.
In assessing the relation between faith and reason, we do well to avoid facile assumptions about the nature of faith. Faith is easily mocked, given that many people hold opinions by faith which on examination are unfounded. So Mark Twain defined faith as ‘believing things you know aint so,” while Richard Dawkins said faith is a blind vice. Twain’s definition has entered popular secular thought as a devastating critique of religion. But if we consider faith more objectively, there is also a role for faith in statements that are true, and this opens the potential for a virtuous path to reconcile faith and reason.
In the philosophy of science and religion, one of the leading great thinkers of the modern enlightenment, the Scottish philosopher David Hume, made a number of astute logical perceptions. Hume held that we cannot know if the sun will rise tomorrow, if there is a necessary connection between a cause and an effect, or if any statements of morality logically derive from statements of fact.
Against these devastating critiques of the limits of pure reason, Immanuel Kant argued that our knowledge in these areas is necessary as a universal condition of our experience. If principles such as causality, morality and regularity of nature did not work, life would be impossible; therefore causality, morality and regularity are necessary truths. However, the key point is that these beliefs, which Kant termed 'synthetic a priori judgments' are truths of rational faith, not derivations from observation.
Further to Kant’s analysis of rational faith as the basis of good philosophy, there are simple obvious necessary axioms which are ultimately based on faith. These axioms include that the universe exists and obeys consistent physical laws which can be discovered by logic and evidence.
Saying these axioms are matters of faith is not to denigrate belief in reality, but rather to note that such belief is not itself derived from the scientific method but sits as a precondition for science. The scientific model of reality is restricted to testable theories, and falls well short of the requirements of everyday belief which depend on trusting our senses in ways we cannot always test.
In the project of reforming faith to become compatible with reason, all statements of faith can be assessed as phenomena. So for example personal faith in ones’ own ideas can be examined in continuity with broader social theories of faith. Historically, the absolute certainty of faith has both a positive and a negative role in culture and politics.
Our dominant modern ideas of liberal tolerance and freedom produce a healthy skepticism about all absolute claims. When pushed to the logical limit, we should not not equally tolerate true and untrue beliefs, and instead should assess beliefs against their consequences and coherence.
As an example of rational faith, Jesus Christ said that if you have faith you can move mountains. When we look objectively at the movement of mountains by the mining industry, such intangibles as investor confidence, trust in law and technology and money and effective community relations are all necessary matters of faith without which projects cannot proceed.
So faith emerges as a major basis of entrepreneurial investment. We cannot in practice deliver core rational objectives of modern life without a central place for faith.