Justification for an act is not something that emerges full-blown out of nothing. My act cannot be justified by of my faith in X if that faith is itself unjustified.
And if I have faith in X within certain constraints and with certain reservations (as I do with governments, for example), that doesn’t somehow make that faith less justified than if I “_really believe in” X without constraints or reservations.
And all of that is true whether X is my government, my god, or my grandmother.
From the point of view of the bomber, faith in God is not itself unjustified. It is in fact a vital part of his psychology.
The original point was the difference in the psychologies of bombers and soldiers. They are both doing it because they were told to, but their confidence in the judgement of the one telling them to is different. So the one with the higher confidence feels more “justified”. That’s what I thought you meant, anyway. If it’s not, could you please clarify?
Perhaps I should have said “the bomber thinks he has more justification than the soldier”.
If “justification” refers to a feeling, then sure: the person who is really convinced that X is reliable and wants them to do something has more justification for doing that thing than the person who isn’t quite sure that X is reliable, or isn’t quite sure that X wants them to do it. (Again, whether X is a government, a god, or a grandmother.)
I was thrown off because “justification” in other contexts is often used to mean something different.
Which is fine; I don’t mean to turn this into a discussion about the meaning of a word.
No. Why would it?
Justification for an act is not something that emerges full-blown out of nothing. My act cannot be justified by of my faith in X if that faith is itself unjustified.
And if I have faith in X within certain constraints and with certain reservations (as I do with governments, for example), that doesn’t somehow make that faith less justified than if I “_really believe in” X without constraints or reservations.
And all of that is true whether X is my government, my god, or my grandmother.
From the point of view of the bomber, faith in God is not itself unjustified. It is in fact a vital part of his psychology.
The original point was the difference in the psychologies of bombers and soldiers. They are both doing it because they were told to, but their confidence in the judgement of the one telling them to is different. So the one with the higher confidence feels more “justified”. That’s what I thought you meant, anyway. If it’s not, could you please clarify?
Perhaps I should have said “the bomber thinks he has more justification than the soldier”.
Ah, I see.
If “justification” refers to a feeling, then sure: the person who is really convinced that X is reliable and wants them to do something has more justification for doing that thing than the person who isn’t quite sure that X is reliable, or isn’t quite sure that X wants them to do it. (Again, whether X is a government, a god, or a grandmother.)
I was thrown off because “justification” in other contexts is often used to mean something different.
Which is fine; I don’t mean to turn this into a discussion about the meaning of a word.
Sorry to cause confusion; thanks for clarifying.