Fideism is the view that religious faith should not be completely determined by reason. The ways in which fideists relate faith to reason are essential for understanding their views. Some fideists are irrationalists, who claim that religious beliefs should be exempt from rational scrutiny and the need to account for evidence. After recounting this position, we consider fideists who recognize a legitimate role for reason, a position we call responsible fideism. We distinguish three ways responsible fideists relate faith to reason: as independent of reason, above reason, or “against” reason, where “reason” is taken in a perspectival manner to refer to dominant human patterns of thinking that conflict with faith.
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