Q&A: Philosophy
Philosophy
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael, I also wrote you a comment on the YouTube channel, but I saw that you don’t respond there very much, so I’m writing to you here.
I wanted to ask: what is the level of objectivity of claims that are explained through philosophical reasoning? Or in short, what is the objectivity of philosophy, and how much is it considered objective with regard to proving things, claims, and so on?
Can the objectivity of philosophy be regarded as equivalent to the objectivity of the scientific method, or perhaps even more than that, in light of logical / mathematical proof?
I’d be happy to hear your thoughts. Thank you very much.
Answer
See my series of columns on what philosophy is, nos. 155–160. In short, philosophical assumptions also underlie science, so this separation is artificial. A logical or mathematical proof determines only the relation between the premises and the conclusion, but it does not provide certainty about the conclusion in itself. Mathematics and logic are branches of philosophy. a0