(For the previous installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here. For ToC, click here.)
I was confused how value of human life stems from knowledge. How do I know that my instinct to value my own life is due to my shared characteristics (human, existing, etc.) and not because of my unique characteristics?
Reason brings to knowledge of the general. We reason that there are general rules of being, not merely a plethora of unique instances.
Admittedly, I'm suspicious of the role of instinct in the mechanism I described. Instinct is not a clear basis for any knowledge.
I love the honesty and clarity of this peice.
Sounds similar to what Rav Soloveitchik writes in the Lonely Man of Faith.
I was confused how value of human life stems from knowledge. How do I know that my instinct to value my own life is due to my shared characteristics (human, existing, etc.) and not because of my unique characteristics?
Reason brings to knowledge of the general. We reason that there are general rules of being, not merely a plethora of unique instances.
Admittedly, I'm suspicious of the role of instinct in the mechanism I described. Instinct is not a clear basis for any knowledge.
I love the honesty and clarity of this peice.
Sounds similar to what Rav Soloveitchik writes in the Lonely Man of Faith.