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Most Recent Views
- Reclaiming Israel’s Reputation
- Translating the Bible for Our Era
- Who Counts? We all do.
- Immigration and the Image of God
- God’s Silent Speech — and Ours
- Keeping the Peace in Troubled Times
- Fighting Racism Starts in the Heart
- Is Lone-Wolf Judaism a Thing?
- Chaos and Creation, from Genesis to Today
- Do You Want to Believe?
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Category Archives: Philosophy
Immigration and the Image of God
My new blog post for The Jewish Journal: Surprisingly – or maybe not – many of our current debates were foreshadowed by ancient rabbinical disputes. One such foreshadowed debate was our national conundrum about immigration, legal and otherwise. In his … Continue reading
Do You Want to Believe?
My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: After a bitterly divisive election season, there’s one question on everyone’s mind: “How can people possibly believe that?” What “that” is depends on who’s doing the talking. It means one thing to … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal
Tagged Belief, Debate, Disagreement, Election, Jonathan Haidt, Politics, Psychology, Sociology of Belief, The Righteous Mind, WEIRD values
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Morality Needs Both Logic and Feeling
My new blog post for The Jerusalem Post: As a child, I was a big “Star Trek” fan. I never wanted to be like Captain Kirk. The world was full of Kirk wannabes. My hero was Mr. Spock: stoic, brilliant, … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post
Tagged Adam Smith, B.F. Skinner, Descartes' Error, Ethics, Feeling, Heschel, Hillel, Logic, Moral judgment, Morality, Mr. Spock, Psychology, Star Trek
1 Comment
Are We Free to Choose?
My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Do you have free will? That’s an easy question. Of course you do. Here’s a harder question: What is free will? That’s where most of us get into trouble. Common sense tells … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jewish Journal
Tagged Autonomy, Divine foreknowledge, Exodus, Free Will, Freedom, Jewish Philosophy
4 Comments
Solve the Right Problem
My latest blog post for The Jewish Journal: Define the problem right, and you’re halfway to a solution. Define the problem wrong, and you’ll probably never solve it. You’ll waste all your time looking for a solution that doesn’t exist. … Continue reading
Is It Moral to Have Children?
My latest blog post for The Jerusalem Post: The question is strange but not crazy: Should we have children? Are there cases when we shouldn’t? Judaism and common sense agree that generally we should and sometimes we shouldn’t. But there … Continue reading
Posted in Jewish Philosophy, Judaism, Philosophy, The Jerusalem Post
Tagged Children, Ethics, Individualism, John Rawls, Mitzvot, Nominalism versus Realism, Parenthood, Rivka Weinberg
3 Comments
