Q&A: Values and Rationality
Values and Rationality
Question
Hi, hello Rabbi, first of all I want to apologize in advance for bothering you,
If I understood correctly, you claim that a person cannot make a moral value judgment and at the same time be an atheist. But if I do not make any judgment at all, and I just go after what I feel like and do whatever I want, then no rational problem is created; only when a value judgment is made does a problem arise. So there is no need to make a judgment, right?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. I said that in the atheist worldview, values have no validity, regardless of any judgments. From this it follows that someone who does not act according to values indeed has no contradiction in being an atheist. So what exactly is the question?
Discussion on Answer
Thank you for these enlightening discussions.
Therefore, if values are not rational at their base, why should I choose some particular value in the first place?