The shifting sands of philosophical certainty

 Shmuli Phillips is with Alec Goldstein and Gil Student.

Many Shabbat tables yesterday are likely to have been entertained by enthusiastic youngsters eagerly regaling us with accounts of how a three-year-old Avram discovered proto-Judaism by means of an intellectual exploration of ultimate theological truths. Armed with his newfound religious certainty, these popular Midrashim continue, Avram proceeded to vanquish the pagan dictator Nimrod in theological debate before being cast into a furnace by the enraged tyrant – and surviving – all this before our parasha has even begun.

While many in today’s Jewish world profess a similar certainty as to the existence of proofs in favour of their religious dispositions, a major theme of Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith is the recognition that prevailing philosophical wisdom considers that such matters can neither be proven nor disproven. In a thoughtful chapter that I was reading over Shabbat, Rabbi Gil Student draws heavily upon the writings of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, a 19th century Prussian rabbi.

Rabbi Kalischer emphasises the importance of a Judaism which is built upon both intellectual inquiry and traditional faith in order to produce an enduring and meaningful engagement with Judaism in the modern world. Devoid of sufficient rational grounding and understanding of Judaism, the bearer of simple faith is likely to be unprepared for any serious challenges that come his or her way. In addition, an intellectual relationship with Judaism, he argues, leads to a stronger and more refined lifestyle and set of priorities: “Someone who views the world with scrutiny will avoid the vanities and foolishnesses of life, the pitfalls of pride and jealousy, the meaningless trivialities that occupy so much time and resources”.

Even more forcefully, however, Rabbi Kalischer insists that rational exploration alone cannot provide a firm enough grounding for a religious life. Modern critiques of long-respected philosophical positions have shown us the limitations of man’s knowledge – the lack of information that we have about the world – which force us to rely upon our personal questionable interpretations of reality. Our only reliable source, concludes, R’ Student, is revelation and tradition.

Examples are offered of Descartes, Kant and Hegel – towering historical figures in philosophy whose theories are now obsolete. “All the great theories have failed, all the great geniuses have been superseded time and again by new geniuses. What certainty lies with today’s geniuses over last century’s and next century’s?”

Significantly, this argument about the “shifting sands” of philosophy is not wielded against the entire philosophic endeavour itself. Instead it is a warning against a tendency among thinkers of any particular era to be overconfident in the fruits of their own rational deliberations. “No argument, no approach can yield conclusive results. The history of philosophy demonstrates that amply”.

The conclusion drawn from this is that intellectual inquiry should be used as a tool to enhance revealed truths which have been faithfully transmitted through the generations:

“We must pursue wisdom, but with the caveat that its conclusions are all tentative. Faith guides us; wisdom deepens the faith. When the two conflict, we view today’s wisdom as tentative, temporary, a step towards an ultimate wisdom that walks lockstep with faith”.

A somewhat similar Midrashic teaching relating to Avram’s early intellectual odyssey forms the basis of the opening chapter of Judaism Reclaimed. Bereishit Rabbah (39:8) explores the comparison of the Jewish nation with a dove. There we are taught that while all other birds rest on a rock or tree when they tire, when a dove is tired, it pushes itself with one of its wings, and flies with the other.

Based on this, Rabbi Shalom Mordechai Schwadron explains that each wing represents a different way that we connect with God. The first, which we may call the philosophical approach, emerges from our own intellectual endeavours to comprehend and connect with the awesomeness of God, while the second - which is a more emotional and spiritual connection - is stimulated by religious and spiritual moments that God sends our way to uplift and inspire us. As I summarise there:

“by developing these complementary aspects of religious endeavour, a person who runs into difficulty with one approach can fall back and rely upon the other (just like when either wing is “tired”, the dove can “fly” with the other). Both intellectual and spiritual-experiential approaches are thus of crucial relevance in every individual’s religious quest, even thought the extent to which each of these two approaches is drawn upon will necessarily vary from person to person” (see more here)

The midrashic accounts of young Avram, it would seem, highlight not only the importance but also the limitations of independent rational inquiry.

First posted to Facebook 6 November 2022, here.