ABSTRACT
Partiality in religion has long been a subject of controversy. Faith, understood as a disposition to believe, is often thought to involve partiality and to be a virtue. Yet believing with partiality seems to violate norms governing the ethics of belief. It is difficult therefore to see how faith can both exhibit partiality and be virtuous. This chapter argues that a different notion of faith—religious faithfulness—better reconciles these conflicting intuitions. First, it examines the notion of faithfulness in general and how it can contribute excellence to the kinds of behaviors we perform with partiality in special relationships. It then examines how faithfulness can function as a virtue in religious relationships. Finally, it argues that religious faithfulness can be virtuous even for those who lack belief that any particular religion is true. The chapter attempts to show that those who lack belief can judge sustained partiality for some religion to be a more reasonable course of action than refraining from all religious behaviors or engaging in only impartial religious behaviors.
