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Some questions I encountered

שו”תCategory: faithSome questions I encountered
asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi, I have a few questions that I came across and I didn’t know how to answer them all, and for some I would prefer to hear another side of the matter:
 

  1. Occam’s Razor Argument: Occam’s Razor claims that when we have two explanations that explain the same phenomenon, we should prefer the simpler explanation. It is argued that God is a complex explanation and we should prefer the naturalistic explanation, on the grounds that it achieves the same quality of explanation for the world and is based on a less complex explanation.

Why is this not true? And is it really better to let God go?
If all natural phenomena can be explained without God.
2.
 
The argument from lack of motivation: If God is omnipotent, then he can satisfy all his desires, aspirations and dreams without creating anything. Since there is a universe and it is claimed that God created it, therefore he has needs – he is not omnipotent. If God exists as a perfect being, then he would not have created the universe – a perfect being has no desires and needs. God created the universe, meaning he has desires and needs – therefore he is not perfect.
 
3.
Spinoza ‘s natural divinity argument: If God exists, he occupies all of space-time (“there is no space free from it”). Therefore, God has no sense of a personal “I”; he has no self-awareness because everything is a part of him, and does not distinguish between “I” and “not I.” If God has no self-awareness, then there is no difference between him and an unconscious universe governed by natural laws.
4
God-time relationship: God is not “above time ” because He acts and is therefore subject to change and causality , and is therefore subject to time (and of course He did not create it). God is not eternal because He had a reason to create the universe and the motive for the reason did not come into existence until after an infinite period of time had passed. For an infinite period of time, God had no reason to create the universe, and at some point in time, a reason emerged to create the universe. It is impossible that for an infinite period of time, God had no reason to create the universe and then – because such a reason was among the other possibilities God had regarding the nature of His actions later.
 
5. Why is it not a disadvantage that God does not know the future?
 
Thanks in advance, maybe some people feel disrespectful for copying and pasting, but I don’t think so, and if so, I apologize in advance.
 


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago
I have no problem with copy-pasting as long as the relevant information is clearly there. 1. The razor is a criterion for choosing between two explanations that explain the phenomenon. But the naturalistic explanation does not explain the phenomena. After all, you could say that a theory with an electric field alone is simpler than a theory that also contains a magnetic field. So why do we think there is a magnetic field? Because the theory without a magnetic field does not explain the phenomena. See the third and fourth notebooks on the website why God is needed to explain the phenomena. 2. Here you are confusing two different questions: A. Why does he need to satisfy his needs through the world and cannot do without it? B. Why does he have needs? First, there is a logical error. For example, I am omnipotent and want to own a triangle, so I create a triangle. Is it appropriate to ask why I am the owner of the triangle and not the owner of a triangle without creating a triangle? This is exactly how I fulfill my will. Even someone who is omnipotent cannot own a triangle without creating a triangle to own. This is a logical rule, and God is also “subject” to logic. See an explanation of this here . In the second question, it is a matter of definition. Suppose he has desires and not needs. It is not that he lacks them, but rather what he believes is right and proper. 3. Here too, the formulation is not successful. The problem is not with a personal sense of self (what is a “sense” of God anyway? That is nonsense) but whether things exist at all. This is why I say that there is an existence outside of God. The reduction is as simple as that. It is sometimes accepted to say that there is none, but this is a mistake. For example, we are not He. The world is not He. See the second book for a discussion on pantheism. 4. God is not subject to time, but our perception of Him is within the framework of concepts of time. You also assume that time is infinite, but at least in physics today it is accepted that it is not. And in general, the concept of concrete infinity is conceptually problematic. On concrete and potential infinity, see the second notebook. You can always say that from the beginning he had a desire that when such and such a point in time came to create the world. This was his desire from the beginning, and nothing was renewed at that point in time (such as Einstein’s letter to the family of his friend Basso after his death). This is certainly true in the deterministic view and therefore it is at least consistent even if not true. And if so, there is no reason to ask this idea from them only regarding this discussion even if I am not a determinist in my view. 5. God knows the future, just not our actions, which depend on choice. Knowing in advance the outcome of a free choice is an oxymoron (it means that the choice is not free. See Newcomb’s paradox, which I also discussed here before ). See again the link in section 2.

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daniel replied 8 years ago

Very briefly, regarding the question about pantheism. If we are not part of God, even though He is not matter, does that not mean He is not infinite (because we occupy His “place”)? How does the simple reduction fit in with this?

daniel replied 8 years ago

Also, if the reduction of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is possible, why in cases asked here in other contexts such as “Can the Holy One, Blessed be He, transform himself into a human being?” the answer was negative? (Isn’t reduction an infinite contradiction? Why is it reasonable here and not here?)

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

There are several possible answers to this. For example, think of a two-dimensional form that does not occupy three-dimensional space. This is how we are in relation to God. This is what the Hadith says about the reduction.
The problem with turning oneself into a human is not because a person is finite but because if I shoot him he will die and not exist, but he is the necessity of reality (which necessarily exists). And if he does not die, then he would not be a human (because a person who is shot dies).

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