Q&A: Regarding the Debate on the “Head-to-Head” Podcast
Regarding the Debate on the “Head-to-Head” Podcast
Question
I heard your wonderful remarks and your well-ordered view regarding the rationale of faith / belief, and the opening remarks reminded me of what Rabbi Chaim said when he answered his son’s question: if belief in God is something called for on that basis, then what is the commandment to believe? He answered that where reason ends, faith begins. And the depth of his words is that although the essence of faith does contain an element of rationality, the basic premises that compel faith are not of that sort. Is there any connection to what was said?
Answer
Not even the slightest connection. In my view this is nonsense. The premises of every argument are drawn from intuition, and so too with faith / belief. All this talk about being “beyond reason” is beyond reason—actually below my reason.
Discussion on Answer
He also calls intuition a kind of reason, not something “beyond reason.” It’s just that it is the “eyes of reason”—the faculty of the intellect that perceives truths.
Intuition serves us in all areas, not only in faith or Torah. So if science and law too are beyond reason, then fine.
I wrote about this in detail in Two Carts and in Truth and Unstable.
Thank you for the quick and sharp reply, but intuition too is an inner sense that comes from a deep place in the recesses of a person’s soul, and that itself is beyond reason. I’d be glad if you could explain it differently.