Philosophers who influenced you

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asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi Michi,

I wanted to ask you which philosopher had the greatest influence on your worldview and theoretical insights? (Apart from the Rambam, Kant, and Rabbi Hanazir, probably modern philosophers, which ones?)

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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago

Beyond Kant, I don’t think there was anyone I could say had an influence. Of course, reading various writings had an influence, but usually not the content and ideas but more the method, the atmosphere and the way of thinking. You could say that everyone was inspired, but I don’t think there was any influence from any particular person. Maybe Leibowitz had an influence, although I don’t agree with most of what he says. Many times he’s right and then goes one step too far. In these cases, I take the first step. —————————————————————————————— Asks: Maimonides and the monk, right? By the way, do you believe that the Critique of Pure Reason is the greatest and deepest philosophical work ever written? Levinas? —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: Also Maimonides and the Hermit (although he is annoying and repeats himself a lot. I think he only has one fundamental innovation, but it is very important: auditory versus visual logic). But among philosophers – I think only Kant. Criticism is at least an excellent candidate for the title. It’s hard for me to judge all of history with the swipe of a keyboard (and I’m far from knowing it all). Levinas absolutely not. In my opinion, this is empty chatter (although I almost never read him because of this impression). And in general, French philosophers tend to be annoyingly chatty and undefined wordplay. I prefer the more analytical Anglo-Americans. Analyticism as a method is excellent because it is careful to define concepts and is based on sharp and clear arguments, even though when it slips into a worldview (what I called analyticity versus syntheticity) it sins against the truth. That is what I dedicated my quartet to.

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יעקב replied 4 years ago

Is your perception of Leibowitz the same today? (Regarding the time of publishing the answer, of course)

How do you manage to glean from the methods of others what is right, and what is wrong? It is difficult to manage to detach yourself from a pattern of thinking that a certain person presents, and even more so to decide against it when you agree with most of what he says. Or when this person has gained a lot of publicity due to his publications.

How does this actually materialize? It simply happens unconsciously, or is it possible to practice a kind of 'stopping thinking' about things. (Then it already takes place intuitively)

Thank you