[Avodah] greek logic and its beauty vis a vis torah logic....

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 01:55:54PM -0700, Harvey Benton wrote:
: my question is, is the methodology of greek knowledge in their use of
: logic (modus ponens, modus tolens, etc), better than ours (eg, kal v'chomer??)

Modus ponens, modus tollens and syllogisms are sevara. Derashah isn't
sevarah. In fact, if something is provable by sevarah, the gemara will
ask "lamah li qera, sevara hi" -- logic supercedes the need to darshen
from pesuqim.

Given that Chazal do call qal vachomer a middah shehatorah nidreshes
bahem, the question becomes how it differs from a fortiori reasoning.
I tried to answer that on the 3rd, in the second part of the post at
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol28/v28n148.shtml#16>. I suggested that
while the a fortiori part is itself sevara, that is not the entirety of
a qal vachomer.


FWIW, Chazal's logic better describes cases with more than two options.
A tenai requires statement in both the positive and negative. Which is
redundant if your only two possibilities are tall and not tall. But if
the opposite of tall is short, with average-sized in between, you do
need to be explicit whether you mean tall or not-short.

It also better handles questions of the human condition in which the law
of excluded middle doesn't hold -- where something and its opposite can
both be true, each in their own ways.

For describing the topics Torah addresses, it's better suited. For
describing empirical reality (above the quantum level), Greek logic is
better suited. A true "Yaft E-lokim leYefes, veyishkon be'ohalei Sheim."

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is harder to eat the day before Yom Kippur
micha at aishdas.org        with the proper intent than to fast on Yom
http://www.aishdas.org   Kippur with that intent.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter