From Deism to Theism
Hello,
As of now, I understand the Rabbi’s words in the four notebooks (I currently only accept the cosmological and physio-theological views, and also a little bit of the theological view from the moral perspective).
This is because God is a being that is not in our experience. He designed the world and also outlined morality for humans (if not from the evidence of morality, then from deterministic evolution).
But I didn’t understand at all how the rabbi wanted to say that God wants something.
After all, it can be said that the world is entrusted to God, that is, that creation was without intention. And in general, we have no explanation of what ‘God’ is so that we can know whether he has desires and intentions at all and be able to explain them…
Perhaps God was ‘forced’ to create the world because he has no free will. (Just as a dove creates and plans a nest for its chicks, of course it has no choice in this act).
There is one that has no judgment and will is not a primary explanation but a blind mechanism. Therefore, there is one that requires something else to be its purpose. A complex world indicates that there is a component that designed it for its purposes (that there be life and that life have these and those properties).
As for the dove, it creates its own nest because it is programmed to do so.
Interesting.
Why must we say that there is a primary being with free choice leading to discretion? (Otherwise we would fall into a regression of beings).
B. Who said that the goal of creation is humans?
C. The Rabbi bases his reply on the assumption that there cannot be actual/concrete infinites. But it is not clear that this is really so.
B. Nobody said. The purpose of creation is what came out, including humans. This is the claim in the physico-theological view.
C. Indeed. If it is not clear to you, then you probably do not agree with the argument.
Rabbi, I really don't understand why a blind mechanism can't be an explanation for the world.
1) According to determinists, man is nothing more than a blind mechanism, so is that why he can't be a primary explanation for the question of who created the clock?
2) Let's say the Creator of the world doesn't have free choice, and he's like a person who feels like he's choosing but it's an illusion, can he no longer be an initial explanation? Why is true free choice needed and isn't the feeling of illusion enough?
I would appreciate an answer.
1. A blind mechanism is arbitrary and therefore cannot create something complex, unless there is something intelligent that created it itself (the blind mechanism), and then we are back to the first link in the chain that must be intelligent.
2. Your doubts here also assume your ability to consider things in your mind, otherwise what is the point of debating. The first link is supposed to have discretion – intelligence to make decisions about what to do and how to realize its will. Otherwise, go back one step and ask who/what created it itself and there you will be required to have intelligence.
The question of whether he has an illusion of choice or not, is really incomprehensible to me. He did not report to us that he has a choice, so if he does – he does, and if not – then he does not. What does the illusion do here?
Thank you.
1. I didn't understand the following sentence: “Your doubts here also assume your ability to consider things differently. What's the point of debating”.
What doubts? What do I assume? What would have been different? And what hesitation?
2. So the rabbi is basically saying that God doesn't need to have free will, but only intelligence. Right?
1. I noted that your questioning to clarify the issue implicitly assumes that you have discretion and freedom to think and choose, otherwise there would be no point in raising considerations one way or the other.
2. If he had no choice, he would be a kind of computer (a deterministic machine), and a computer has no intelligence. See column 35:
https://mikyab.net/%D7%9E%D7%94%D7%99-%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%92%D7%A0%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%94-%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%A9-%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C-%D7%93/
2) Okay. So according to materialism/determinism, man has no intelligence?
Indeed. See the article I referenced.
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