Q&A: An Attempt at Self-Clarification
An Attempt at Self-Clarification
Question
Hello Rabbi,
First, I should confess that I have no real proficiency in the world of philosophy, and although there are existential questions that trouble me and that I wrestle with, I am still a “rookie.” Recently I started reading the first book of the new trilogy, and it is difficult for me, but it stirred me to clarify things a bit, and that is why I am asking. I hope the question is clear.
Is there room for the claim that existence itself—that is, the most basic platform—is the cause of itself? After all, any cause must itself exist, and if so it turns out that what exists already came first.
And is there room for the claim that existence is infinite? Because theoretically everything can exist, including absurdities—for before anything existed, there were no boundaries either. Basically, everything can be, so long as there is only pure existence itself.
But in practice one thing begins to exist and not another, and it is hard to say that this is arbitrary, because that too is a concept that needs to exist; and meanwhile intention can also exist—so why say that arbitrariness appeared or was realized before, or instead of, intention.
Basically, it comes out that existence itself is freedom incarnate. An engine that depends on nothing, and is pushed or pulled by nothing. Total freedom.
And if there is something to this, is it correct to translate this into Torah terms, in which God is the name for this freedom?
Thanks
Answer
I’m not sure I understand the question. For example, one can say that a body has some velocity, but motion itself is not an object. You can’t say that its motion was caused by motion itself. That is nonsense.
Discussion on Answer
I simply do not understand what you are talking about. I hope you do.
I’m trying to clarify this for myself—I said that up front, didn’t I?
When we speak about something that exists, can we speak about existence as detached from the thing itself? Can we see “an essence of existence” as the infrastructure for everything?
If not, why not?
I don’t understand what is written here.
But every object necessarily rests on some platform, doesn’t it? The “place” where everything happens.
Are you saying that existence is unrelated to the things that exist within it, and only contains them and receives them from outside?