Trying to understand what the question is
Peace and blessings .
First, I want to thank the rabbi for his life's work – for the seriousness of things and the integrity that screams from every corner .
Your words are nothing less than air to breathe for me, even though we are from different seminaries. So thank you. .
For years, a question has been nagging at me, and despite countless attempts and efforts to put my finger on it clearly, I have difficulty presenting it at these moments as I would like, and so I apologize if things are not very clear .
And perhaps, in addition to a substantive answer to the question I will try to ask, I will also ask the rabbi to try to reflect my words according to his understanding in professional terms and language so that I can once and for all understand what my soul's question is .
Say it directly and briefly .
I really don't think I know what's right and wrong in the world. Everything I ever say is actually influenced by my personal biography, so this sense of certainty I feel about my path is actually just an illusion (or something like that. What exactly? ).
And yes, I know that you believe that there is indeed no justification for absolute certainty in anything, and I agree with you on this point.
But if everything depends on culture, then even the fact that I recognize my path as more plausible than another path is influenced by my personal history, and again there is no real value to this identification.
Now I understand that thinking about things, that is, mental analysis to uncover the truth, while of course being honest and true, should reduce the level of bias we have towards the worldview we grew up with.
But whenever I use my mind in an attempt to reach the truth and find agreement on a particular matter, meaning that something seems true to me and settles in my soul, I feel again the same feeling I mentioned above – the feeling of certainty/the feeling of recognizing the thing as plausible/the feeling of identification with this particular content, and again I am awakened by the thought of the fact that my friend Plogta also thought about things (assuming that is really the case) and his soul found honesty where I found distortion, and again I return to referring to the experience I am experiencing in relation to my perception as an illusion devoid of any real value.
All of this leads me to the danger that I will never be able to know what is more true and what is less close to the truth. Because in the end, "it's all in your opinion," as the postmodernists claim.
By the way, I would love to know what we should conclude from the internal contradiction inherent in the postmodern concept?
In other words, if by saying that we cannot know what the truth is in the world, we are saying that this is the truth and not the truth that says it is possible to know what is true and what is not, and we have contradicted ourselves – should this lead us to conclude that the postmodern statement is necessarily false?
Because on the one hand, it's truly a contradiction that doesn't allow for correctness, and on the other hand, I do recognize this perception as more valid despite the contradiction. So what do we do?
Sorry for the lack of clarity. I would be happy again if the rabbi could, in addition to answering, also reflect on what I tried to ask for his understanding so that I can finally understand myself.
thanks
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If I understood your question correctly, you are raising a typical skeptical question: How can I know that what I think is right is indeed right, since the thought that what I think is right is also my thought (which I think is right).
First of all, I just have to correct an inaccurate point in your statement. There is no certainty about anything in any field. And yet there is probability here and there. For me, probability is enough to accept any claim. Therefore, the fact that there is no certainty does not change anything to your question and there is no need to resort to it. Furthermore, if you accept our ability to reach the truth in a state of certainty, and wonder only about a state in which we do not have certainty, I see no reason to deny the ability to adopt our positions also in a state of probability. After all, even if you are in a state of certainty, it can be argued against you that this certainty itself is a consequence of your biography and the structure of your mind.
To your question, it seems that the question should be divided into two: 1. Let's assume that the whole world thinks the same thing (as mentioned, not with certainty) on this question. There is still room to discuss whether this is true or not. It is possible that this is how we are all programmed to think and it has nothing to do with the truth. 2. When there is a dispute – who said that I am right? The other person is no less wise than me, and apparently each person has formed a position based on their biography and mental structure.
There can be no convincing answer to question 1, because any answer given to it is itself vulnerable to attack. When I present an argument as to why what we all think is right is indeed right, the claim will be raised against me that this is also our thought. Therefore, here I am only saying that it seems right to me and that is it. Just as when I see a wall in front of me and someone comes up and says, "Maybe there is no wall there and it is an illusion," I will not answer him. I see and it is clear to me that there is a wall. There is no possible answer here, because any argument I present can be rejected in the same way (you think that way because that is how you are programmed). It is enough for me that I simply see it and that is it.
Question 2 only arises if you answer question 1 in the affirmative, that is, only if you understand that what everyone thinks is probably right (though not necessarily), and that there is no necessary gap between subjective thought and objective truth. Only now can you ask what the law is regarding disagreement (how do I know that I am right). I answered this question in columns 247-8.
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