Q&A: Belief in God and Intuition
Belief in God and Intuition
Question
Following your first book, Present First:
At the end of the day, if I understood correctly, all the proofs—and especially the “revealing” proofs—for belief in God are based on our intuition, the eyes of the intellect. And more than that, only it can actually supply content to the philosophical toolbox (the emptiness of the analytic).
In your opinion, can one basically say that a person who believes because this is a basic intuition for him can be considered rational?
Isn’t this really just “simple faith”?
Thank you very much
Answer
Exactly so. And I wrote this explicitly in the first book, and also here on the site. There is no difference at all between simple faith and faith that comes through inquiry. In the end, everything comes down to intuition.
Discussion on Answer
That is a matter of definition. I think good character traits do help one arrive at a better understanding of the world. But there is nothing mystical here. A person has fewer biases when he looks at things, and therefore grasps them more accurately.
In my opinion, Torah study and observance of commandments have no direct effect, except perhaps through the character refinement that takes place within that framework.
I’ll mention again here what I’ve already mentioned regarding the yeshiva saying about “the visual recognition of a Torah scholar.” From the Talmud in Bava Metzia it emerges that a Torah scholar does not have better visual recognition than an ignoramus; rather, people rely on him not to lie.
I was just now asked about and answered a related topic: https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%d7%97%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%94-%d7%9c%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%99%d7%9F-%d7%a9%d7%97%d7%95%d7%A9%d7%91%d7%99%D7%9D-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%97%D7%93-%d7%9C%D7%90-%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F
“I think good character traits do help one arrive at a better understanding of the world. But there is nothing mystical here” —
1. But is this intuition, or purely intellectual understanding?
2. How can one formulate clearly and sharply the difference between intuition as an additional faculty beyond the intellect, and mysticism? I was asked that, and I’m having a bit of trouble answering…
I mean that there is nothing here that a secular person could not also attain. The question of what mysticism is is a matter of definition, and there is no point in dealing with it in our context.
In the Rabbi’s opinion, can someone who lives a certain kind of life—for example, among Jews, observing commandments, acting honestly, having good character traits, studying Torah, and so on—develop his basic “intuition” into an “intuition” on a higher level than someone who does none of those things?