Q&A: On Judgment and Determinism
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
On Judgment and Determinism
Question
Can a person be judged? That is, can you make claims against someone for not behaving properly? Or is that impossible because, ostensibly, any other person would have acted in exactly the same way if he had lived in precisely the same circumstances as the sinner.
Answer
You are assuming a deterministic view, as though the circumstances—both external and internal together—dictate the action we will take. I am a libertarian, and therefore I disagree. What we do depends on our choice. The same person, with the same makeup and the same circumstances, can make two different, even opposite, decisions.