Q&A: Who Is a Rationalist
Who Is a Rationalist
Question
Hello to the esteemed Rabbi, may he live long. A question bothers me a bit: who is a rationalist, and what does that even mean? If I became convinced that the proofs for the existence of demons are genuine and probable, and I believe in demons, have I stopped being a rationalist? Is a rationalist only someone who believes in established and recognized science? If so, then Einstein and Newton were not rationalists, as the Rabbi once explained. On the other hand, how far can one go into the unknown and still remain a rationalist?
Answer
There is really no meaning to this question. It is merely a matter of definition. In the commonly accepted sense, belief in demons is not included in rationalism. But the important question is whether such a belief is reasonable and logical, not whether it is rationalist. By the way, I have already written several times that a rationalist in the commonly accepted sense is not always rational.