Q&A: Is Intuition a Sufficient Basis?
Is Intuition a Sufficient Basis?
Question
Hello Rabbi.
I already asked you in the past about intuition, and following a discussion with a friend about free choice, the question came back to me whether intuition is the only reason you believe in free choice. Because if so, then if there is a person whose intuition is different from mine, how do I know who is right?
Answer
Intuition is the only reason we accept anything on earth, including scientific results. So what would you say to a person whose intuition tells him that there is action at a distance in physics? Or that the principle of causality is not true? Every argument is based on assumptions whose foundation is intuition. Even my trust in the senses is based on the intuition that the senses are reliable.
Therefore I would tell him that he is mistaken. There is a difference between the question of whether I can persuade someone who disagrees with me and the question of whether I am willing to maintain my own position (even if not with certainty).
Discussion on Answer
Who said I can prove it? Like with any argument, you need agreement on its assumptions. But the fact that someone holds different assumptions and I can’t persuade him does not mean that I won’t maintain my position and think that he is mistaken.
You can also persuade people to change their basic assumptions or intuition, and you can also get them to discover that these are not really their assumptions or their intuition. In my book there are several thought experiments whose purpose is exactly that.
I read part of the book The Science of Freedom, and from what I understood, you simply refute all the determinist’s claims, and still we are left in a situation where both sides have intuition and neither side can prove itself.
Only a partial description. Read the rest.
I didn’t understand exactly the difference between a person who disagrees with me and whether I can maintain my position.
After all, just as you say you have an intuition in favor of free choice, I don’t have it. So how do you prove to people that there is free choice?