A puzzle regarding rationality

Consider the following thought experiment. Adam has been in a state of severe anxiety for years now. Recently he obtained overwhelming evidence that he is going to die if he does not get rid of his anxiety. He also has overwhelming evidence that the only way for him to acquire peace of mind is to believe that God does not exist. Now, suppose that Adam has in fact overwhelming evidence for God's existence. In an ultimate attempt to save his life he nevertheless starts to try to force himself psychologically to believe - contrary to the evidence - that God does not exist. After two weeks he finds himself in a state of believing that God does not exist. As a result he obtains the desired peace of mind and thus loses his anxiety. In this way he manages to save his life. Now consider the following question. Is Adam's believe that God does not exist rational?

Note: For the puzzle it doesn't matter if we would have assumed that Adam has overwhelming evidence for God's non-existence and for the fact that the only way for him to acquire peace of mind is to believe God exists.

Paradigms of Rationality

As part of the upcoming VU master course Knowledge, Rationality, and Society I shall give four lectures on 'paradigms of rationality'. During these lectures we ask what it means to say that something is reasonable. The aim is to explicate what rationality is and under what conditions something may be considered rational. Different models for understanding the concept of rationality will be distinguished. Examples include formal evidentialism, social evidentialism, and presumptionism. We discuss what consequences these models have for central areas of human life: science, religion and everyday life. Our discussion includes an overview of the accounts of rationality developed by philosophers such as T. Kuhn, A. MacIntyre, D. Z. Phillips, and A. Plantinga, among others. Drop me an email if you are interested in joining (one or more of) these lectures.

Session 1 (25/11): The nature of rationality - Science and Formal Evidentialism
Session 2 (27/11): The Scientific and the Evidentialist Challenge to Religious Belief - The Practice Oriented View of Science
Session 3 (2/12): Social Evidentialism - Social Evidentialism and Religious Belief - Presumptionism
Session 4 (4/12): The Nature and Function of Religious Belief - Religious Rationality

Literature:
- Mikael Stenmark, 'Rationality in Science, Religion and Everyday life' (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995)