Q&A: Morality and the Evil Inclination
Morality and the Evil Inclination
Question
Have a good week, honorable Rabbi,
I’ve read your books, and I have a question about morality.
You don’t mention the concept of the evil inclination there in the book.
We know that it has a significant and dominant role, and that it
inclines a person to do immoral acts. True, a person has
free choice, but many times the inclination actually succeeds
in causing a person to stumble. So I’m asking why the Rabbi doesn’t mention it.
Is it because this is religious terminology, and what you wrote belongs
to philosophical topics in general, and therefore you ignore it? Or is it a concept
that doesn’t exist in your teaching and worldview?
It seems to me that the Rabbi speaks about it very little. Does it not carry much weight
in your world, or is it simply that you have nothing to add to what has been written in the various ethical works
of the Sages, and that your added value lies in philosophy and Jewish law?
Answer
The evil inclination is just a word. The impulses in a person that drive him toward evil appear in many ways. What difference does it make what you call them? If you think the evil inclination is some little demon with an independent existence, then in my view that’s not it.