I often wondered why faith, "the act of believing in something without any evidence", is seen as a virtue by so many people. Now, I think this is because they confuse faith for conviction. I call this "The Rocky effect".
One of the biggest reason why the character Rocky is so endearing is his utter conviction of continuing to fight even when the facts, (and indeed the evidence), were clear that he is not going to win that fight, and that continuing is only going to injure him further. So, at this point, he is being very irrational, and ignoring all the evidence, yet this act is seen as a sign of strength in character.
I agree with the above assessment of strength. Then why do I think faith is not a virtue, but the propensity to act irrationally in the above situation a virtue?
The key difference is belief. I don't think Rocky actually believed he was going to win in that losing fight. He continues to fight despite his belief (and possibly fear) that he is going to lose.
The strength in the character is the courage of fighting in the face of an obvious defeat. It is the conviction to fight without showing any regard to the end goal, it is the joy in the journey and not just the destination.
The only instance according to my observations, when faith is viewed as a virtue is in the matter of belief in a "God", however many ways that word is defined. And in these cases, I believe it is because this faith is being confused for conviction.
One of the biggest reason why the character Rocky is so endearing is his utter conviction of continuing to fight even when the facts, (and indeed the evidence), were clear that he is not going to win that fight, and that continuing is only going to injure him further. So, at this point, he is being very irrational, and ignoring all the evidence, yet this act is seen as a sign of strength in character.
I agree with the above assessment of strength. Then why do I think faith is not a virtue, but the propensity to act irrationally in the above situation a virtue?
The key difference is belief. I don't think Rocky actually believed he was going to win in that losing fight. He continues to fight despite his belief (and possibly fear) that he is going to lose.
The strength in the character is the courage of fighting in the face of an obvious defeat. It is the conviction to fight without showing any regard to the end goal, it is the joy in the journey and not just the destination.
The only instance according to my observations, when faith is viewed as a virtue is in the matter of belief in a "God", however many ways that word is defined. And in these cases, I believe it is because this faith is being confused for conviction.
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