Abstract:
This chapter argues against the proposal that faith’s similarities to interpersonal trust merit its being considered reasonable or virtuous. There is an important analogy between faith and trust that is crucial to understanding the content of faith. But the disanalogies between the two sever the attempt to justify faith along the same lines as trust. When we examine what is actually involved in reasonable interpersonal trust, we see that both the epistemically worrisome and redeeming features of trust are quite different than what’s involved in faith. There are special reasons to worry about faith, including faith’s requiring special doxastic venture even to believe in the existence of the God purportedly trusted.
