Q&A: Cognitive Thinking
Cognitive Thinking
Question
Hello and blessings, Rabbi.
I’m listening to your series on faith and really enjoying it, so more power to you.
To the point: in lesson number 9, you disagreed with Kant that there are only two tools for science, cognitive and conceptual, and you introduced the concept of cognitive thinking as the basis for science and for our ability to say objective things about it. What is the status of this concept? Is it open to debate?
As an example, you brought the concept of visual recognition, which everyone has, except that a Torah scholar is presumed not to lie, so it sounds like cognitive thinking really is an objective claim about reality.
What about Aristotelian physics? Seemingly Aristotle and his group also had scientific cognition, which, as the Rabbi said, is the only solid basis for science, and yet we rejected their approach.
Thank you very much!
Answer
Of course intuitions can be debated. We do that all the time. Intuition is not a tool for certainty, and there is no tool for certainty. And of course one can also be mistaken, like Aristotle was. It is worth making use of observation, as in science, and common sense. Listen to different and opposing arguments and think, and only then formulate a position.
An objective claim is not the same concept as a certain claim.