Abstract
There has been near unanimous agreement that faith requires having some sort of
positive attitude towards the object of faith. This thesis has recently been called into question by
the lone wolf, Malcolm & Scott (2021), who propose a substitute property of true grit. This paper
argues that substituting the element of grit leaves an explanatory gap when it comes to explaining
why one has faith; a conative attitude must underride one’s grit. Yet, it seems to me that a positive
conative attitude towards the proposition in question is not required. The present account
proposes that there are some cases of propositional faith where the object one’s conative attitude
is not the proposition itself, but a person or group that one loves, belongs to, or identifies with.
Lastly, it’s argued that a negative conative attitude, rather than strictly positive, can also explain
grit and its role within propositional faith.