Q&A: The Laws of Morality and Logic
The Laws of Morality and Logic
Question
Hello Rabbi!
Regarding what was said in lesson 11 on Jewish law and morality,
The Rabbi said that the understanding that hurting someone is wrong is like logic, which the Holy One, blessed be He, is “bound” by.
Why not say that the understanding that hurting someone is wrong was given to us by the Holy One, blessed be He?
In logic I can’t understand such a statement, but in morality I can.
Answer
That understanding was given to us by Him, but the question is whether He Himself could have created a world in which harming another person was a good act. In my view, no, because that is the meaning of the concept of good. In that sense it is like logic. In a world like ours, harming another person is bad. If He had created a world with different creatures, for example masochists who enjoy being harmed, then harming would have been good. But I argue that He cannot create a world like ours and still define harming another person as good. This of course connects to the Euthyphro dilemma, as I mentioned there.
Discussion on Answer
He can put anything into our minds. Also that one plus one equals three. But He can’t make it actually be three, and murder actually be moral. Misleading us is a different matter. That’s not what the discussion is about.
I’m saying that after all, He could have put into our minds that another person’s suffering is the good thing—not as a semantic game, but that we really would have believed it was moral and upright.