Game - Battleground God

Brilliant link.I also took two bullets on the justifying belief issue, I don't agree with them.

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It is justifiable to base one's beliefs about the external world on a firm, inner conviction, regardless of the external evidence, or lack of it, for the truth or falsity of these convictions.

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Isn't a 'firm inner conviction' a belief?
Answered false.

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The serial rapist Peter Sutcliffe had a firm, inner conviction that God wanted him to rape and murder prostitutes. He was, therefore, justified in believing that he was carrying out God's will in undertaking these actions.

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Answered true.

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Earlier you claimed that it is not justifiable to base one's beliefs about the external world on a firm, inner-conviction, paying no regard to the external evidence, or lack of it, for the truth or falsity of this conviction. But now you say that the rapist Peter Sutcliffe was justified in basing his beliefs about God's will solely on precisely such a conviction.

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I say no such thing. I say that he is justified in believing that his actions are justified by his beliefs. In fact, the second sentence of the question, "He was, therefore, justified in believing that he was carrying out God's will in undertaking these actions." is redundant. The first sentence states that he believed it was God's will. Am I meant to judge whether he actually did believe it?Maybe I'm missing something. Seems like I'm meant to think that just because HIS beliefs are irrational he doesn't actually believe them.

You later in this thread define belief as : So isn't 'firm inner conviction' the same as belief?Which would mean that the question is whether he was justified in believing that he was carrying out God's will based on a belief. Right, I get that it's meant to be about whether his initial belief is justified, but isn't the conviction the same thing as his belief?He believed it, but is he justified in believing that he believed it?
I'm having comprehension problems with this question.

Right, I think I understand why my answer was wrong. I'm making a mistake by putting too much weight on the first sentence and thinking that it says he believes that God wanted him to do these things (which it does right?). The bit you bolded makes it clear, if that's all the question is meant to be about.The way it is phrased is confusing, it doesn't seem to be asking if his 'firm inner conviction' is justified, but if his belief in his own 'firm inner conviction' is.Aye yay yay, much ado about nothing