Choosing a profitable opinion

שו”ת › Category: faith › Choosing a profitable opinion

asked 6 months ago

Hi Miki. I wanted to ask what you think. Suppose that on a certain question such as the survival of the soul after death, I have no sufficient evidence or reasons one way or the other. And suppose that believing in the survival of the soul would make my life today better or more moral. Is it legitimate to choose one opinion from among the options out of purposiveness and not out of a logical conclusion? Is that possible? Is it intellectually correct?

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מיכי Staff answered 6 months ago

In my opinion, absolutely not. This is pragmatism (a dirty word for me). Just because something is useful does not make it right. I also don’t see how it would benefit you. If you are not convinced that it is the truth, then how will adopting it for this or that result work? After all, you know that it is just adopting it for practical purposes. In halacha there is a similar mechanism, when you are in doubt between two options and you choose the one that is morally beneficial to you or prevents some kind of pressure. But even there you choose it as a behavioral option and do not claim that it is the truth. Claiming that it is the truth is just idiotic, so intellectual dishonesty is a compliment for that.

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y replied 6 months ago

Thanks for the response.
Just want to clarify. I'm not talking about adopting an opinion that I don't believe in, but rather that I'm skeptical about it and don't have convincing proof for one side. Why not include in the set of considerations the implications of life in light of that opinion.
Of course, even after adopting the opinion, if you ask me if I'm convinced that this is the truth, the answer will be negative, but this is the opinion that I chose to live by. (You can see this as a type of leadership, but this is not behavior that contradicts reality in my opinion, but rather a decision on a question that I don't have an informed decision on)

מיכי Staff replied 6 months ago

I understood all of this, and I answered it.