Q&A: Morality
Morality
Question
Following the debate with Prof. Enoch, I didn’t understand what exactly you meant—is the basis that God gives to the laws of morality the laws of the Torah, or does the Rabbi mean that the very existence of a transcendent factor gives moral laws validity (but if so, I don’t understand where God obligated us in these laws)?
Thank you very much
Answer
I don’t recall that you participated there. As far as I remember, there were three of us: Enoch, the moderator, and me. I can tell you what I meant, if that helps at all.
My claim has nothing whatsoever to do with the way I ascertain God’s intention. I am making the following claim: if a person believes in valid morality, then he necessarily assumes that God expects him to be moral. Without that, there is no valid morality. I don’t know how he arrived at that, nor whether he is right, but that dependence is necessary. A person can think there is no God, or that He did not command morality, and therefore not be obligated. But if he is obligated, then he believes. I clarified this there.
As for myself, this is the result of intuition. I understand intuitively that God, who implanted moral values within me, expects me to be committed to them. In addition, the Torah itself contains the verse, “And you shall do what is right and good,” which is not counted among the commandments because it is not a commandment. Jewish law is in no way connected to morality (see Column 15), but the Torah certainly expresses God’s will that we be moral.