Mach Review Flash Cards

Epistemology / Study of how we know things
Allegory of The Cave / Written by Plato. Gives the allegory to teach us that coming to know the truth is a difficult and eye opening process that involves moving out of the way we currently see things. Irreversible.
Rambam: Moreh Nevuchim / Different levels of light for everyone in conjunction with their relationship with Hashem
Teleological Argument / Everything is so complex, there HAS to be god! (Hind Telephone is complex, and the world is complex)
Cosmological Argument / Everything has a cause - go far back enough and it will be God.
(Hint: Cosmos are far back in time)
Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah - Rambam / Every living being had to have been created by God but god is not finite
Midrash Truma / Rabbi Akiva and the Heretic: agrees with Teleological argument - everything has a cause - i.e. taylor and shirt
Irrational to Believe in God
Singer / God is the simplest explanation for how the world got into order (similar to teleological)
Pascal’s Wager / Uses math/logic to determine that it is logical to believe in God (meaning you won’t gain anything by not believing, and you CAN gain by believing, so just believe)
Carmi / You cannot decide faith based on logic - you need logic of the heart which is more emotional than logic of the mind
13 Principles: Rambam / Suggests the thirteen ways - a cheat sheet of ways you need to believe in God:
Mishneh Torah; Rambam / Faith is a process and it cannot happen at once. Torah and science help - you can love god if you get to know him
Soloveichik and There you shall seek / Most people don’t find god through logic but rather through experiences - you find out through experiences like roots
Lamm - Faith as Marriage / Comparison to a marriage. Just as there are things you don’t know in a marriage you need to take a leap of faith
Cognitive Faith - Lamm / Belief that
Affective Faith - Lamm / Belief in - more trust
Functional Faith - Lamm / How you act towards God because you trust him - how do you express your affective faith?
Theodicy
God has no foreknowledge - Ralbag / God knows what CAN happen but not necessarily what will
Humans have no free choice - Crescas / Humans have no free will and God is omniscient
Divine and Human are compatible- Rambam / God has a different type of knowledge than we do and therefore it is compatible
God is Above time / God has a different time and there is no past present or future
Determinism / Our actions are in response to external factors
Spinoza / Most extreme. There is NO free will - every single action is caused by external causes. Like a rock is flying in the air because of a throw or a force, similarly, we have the illusion of choice, but we actually have no free will because of external forces. Someone who is under the influence will do things that in the moment feel like what they want to do, but really, it is because of alcohol. This is a metaphor for how we are all the time.
Frankl / After studying the holocaust, came to conclusion that true free will rests in our attitude. Each person has the choice to assert their attitude, and that is their free will. (WRITING ASSIGNMENT)
Dessler / We live with lots of stuff that is predetermined. We have free will, but we don’t truly have the moment of choice because things are so habitual. True choice is when you are really making a decision about the correct path - at this “bechira point” - you change.
Theodicy: Why do bad things happen to good people?
Gemara Brachot / ●If something bad happens, you must examine the following 3 things:
○Do teshuva
○See if you are neglecting torah study
○Afflictions of love. It looks bad now, but it is all in the interest of love
Rambam / Suffering is caused by ourselves or other humans - we bring it on ourselves, it’s not our fault, righteous people get what they deserve. Exceptions:
●Babies punished with abnormalities
●Righteous dying
●Young man dying
Kushner - When bad things happen to good people / God does not have the power to stop suffering. It’s better to have a God that cannot stop suffering than one who can and chooses not to
Morality
Taamei Hamitzvot / Trying to find the meaning in logic and reasoning behind the Mitzvot
Benefit is that it gives reasons - dangers are that people will be inclined not to listen if it doesn’t apply
Rambam / God is rational and there is a reason for all of the Mitzvot - to benefit us directly - in three ways:
●Helping put an end to unhealthy
●Helping communicate justice
●Giving us morals and noble qualities
Yishayahu Leibowitz / There is no reason behind Mitzvot - the sole purpose is to worship God and it is Avoda Zara if we try to find a reason behind the Mitzvot, because it is for God - not ourselves
Rav Soloveichik / Distinguishes between motivations, explanations, and interpretations - i.e. motivations may be different than what God commanded us. We can answer what but not why.
Ethical Systems
Utilitarianism / What is right is determined by outcomes and not the actions themselves. Ends justify the means and the right actions are the ones that produce the most happiness in the end.
Deontology / The action itself is what makes it right or wrong - not the outcome
Virtue Ethics / What makes the action right or wrong is not the action but rather whether or not the action makes you a better person
Hint: virtuous
Moral Relativism / Actions are right or wrong based on societal norms
Divine Command Morality / What is right or wrong should be solely decided based on God.
Can God command morals?
Question- Divine Command Morality: Can God command something moral? (Euthyphro) / Did God command it because it is good, or is it good because the Gods commanded it?
Destruction of Amalek Conflict / God commanded us to kill Amalek, but our morals tell us that it is wrong.
Norman Lamm / God commanded it, and therefore by definition it is moral - we must kill Amalek.
A Developing Morality: Every time period interprets different Psukim differently and different morals differently and therefore each generation uses their own morals to define Halacha differently.