"They believe or they only believe they believe" – Montaigne and Bayle about belief

Abstract

What is fideism? Is it a belief that does not rely on any argument or one that relies on non-demonstrative arguments? Is a person a Fideist who claims his belief does not rely on any argument, logical thinking, or probability but is the irrational and non-reflective result of spontaneous conversion, an ‘emotion of the heart’? Or is a Fideist rather a person who although s/he refuses to accept demonstrative arguments and metaphysical proofs, s/he still accepts belief to be a well-founded conviction, that is based on historical and moral arguments like many other everyday convictions? (In this view, historical arguments stand for the truth of witnesses, the authenticity of the Scripture, while moral arguments mean the respectability, coherence and sublimity of the teaching.)