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Category Archives: Judaism
Is the Bible Worth Reading?
Is the Bible worth reading? I think it is, but you can find intelligent, moral people on both sides of that question. American novelist Mark Twain, best known for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, had a low opinion of the … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Jewish Philosophy, Judaism
Tagged Bible, Biblical literacy, Binding of Isaac, Cultural literacy, Genesis 22, Mark Twain, Moral dilemma, Moral reasoning
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The Way to Go
“To every man there openeth A Way, and Ways, and a Way. And the High Soul climbs the High way, And the Low Soul gropes the Low, And in between, on the misty flats, The rest drift to and fro. … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Judaism, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Concepts, Generalization, Justice, Number, Poetry, Us versus Them, Wisdom
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Job and Culture
In yesterday’s blog post, I referred to “automatic pilot.” And as often happens when I write, I wondered if I needed to explain what it was. Any readers who didn’t understand “automatic pilot” would have missed my point. Suppose that … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Judaism, Political Science, Society
Tagged Book of Job, Communication, Community, Cooperation, Culture, Diversity, Heritage, Social Conflict, Trust
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Get Help from Your Automatic Pilot
We spend a lot of our lives on automatic pilot. We act out of habit, without thinking about what we’re doing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If we had to think our way through everything we did, we couldn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Human Relations, Judaism, Psychology, Society
Tagged Bible Study, Habit, Learning, Observance, Practice, Prayer, Religion, Skill, Virtue
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Everyone’s Welfare Counts
We should try to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It sounds like a pretty good idea. And it is. But it’s not the whole answer. The problem is that like lower animals, humans distinguish between … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology
Tagged Choice, Ethics, Group behavior, Group membership, Human Dignity, Moral Choice, Nozick, Side constraints, Utilitarianism
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What a Difference a Year Makes
What a difference a year makes. Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism
Tagged Conceptual Idealism, Days of Awe, High Holidays, Justice, New Year, Repentance, Rosh Hashanah, Teshuva, Tikkun Olam, Time
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Are People Basically Good?
“People are neither basically good nor basically bad. They are basically free.” Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Judaism, Philosophy
Tagged Conscience, Dennis Prager, Empathy, Ernest Hemingway, Human Nature, Jonathan Haidt, Morality, Religion, Virtue
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