Q&A: Do I Experience Myself?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Do I Experience Myself?
Question
Rabbi Michael, hello,
Like saying “a God who creates Himself” is a logical fallacy,
is saying “I experience myself” also a logical fallacy?
And if so, does that undermine everything I assume or infer in general?
Thank you for your time 🙏🏼
Answer
I think not. Just as we think about our own thinking (that is the field of logic),
one can also view this along the axis of time. “X creates itself” is a contradiction, because before it created itself it does not exist, and therefore cannot create anything. But experiencing oneself is simultaneous. Not every self-reference is contradictory.
Thanks for the clarification 🙏🏼