Q&A: Values
Values
Question
Hello Rabbi, does the Rabbi think that values are objective or subjective? Thank you very much, and all the best.
Answer
The question is too general.
It can be interpreted in the factual sense: do all human beings believe in the same values? Here the answer is that there are values shared by the overwhelming majority of people, but not by everyone. There are values that are disputed.
It can also be interpreted on the normative level: is there a set of values that obligates all human beings, including those who do not believe in them—they are simply mistaken? Here, in my opinion, the answer is yes regarding most values. It is possible that there are situations in which there is more than one legitimate answer, but it is clear that not all situations are like that and that not all answers are legitimate.
Discussion on Answer
How do you know that there is a set of values that obligates everyone?
Do you believe that Jewish law is included in that set?
How can one discover what those values are?
As I explained in my book Truth and Unstable, in my view we “perceive” values (with the mind’s eye), and that is how we know them. Jewish law is certainly not included in this, since it does not obligate gentiles. Morality, by definition, is universal and applies to all human beings.
So for them, Jewish law = the seven Noahide commandments. If so, does Jewish law obligate all human beings?
The moral component obligates all human beings. That is not Jewish law in the usual sense, but we won’t get into semantics here.
It could also be interpreted as asking whether the organization Arachim is objective or not… really, seventy facets…