[Avodah] Rav Elchanan Wasserman & Why People Sin

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 05:04:31PM -0400, H Lampel via Avodah wrote:
:> There is here an actually a reference to a formal proof. The Rambam 
:> recaps a point made in 2:19-20.
: 
: In 2:19-20 Rambam makes no reference to each component or entity in 
: nature providing a benefit for another, and certainly does not use that 
: there as a proof for Creation ex nihilo...

2:20 marks the end of an Argument from Design, which is what I was
referring to. As it opens: "According to Aristotle, none of the products
of Nature are due to chance. His proof is this: That which is due to
chance does not reappear constantly nor frequently, but all products of
Nature reappear either constantly or at least frequently..."

This is a formal argument, unlike R' Aqiva's or REW's own appeal
to the obviousness of a design and thus Designer.

I am saying that 3:15, when it mentions in passing the bit that

:: And know that one of the strongest proofs for Creation ex nihilo, //for 
:: //one who ismodeh al ha-ememmes// ...
:: is his confirming the fact that every one of all natural entities
:: serves a specific purpose, with each one benefiting still another;
:: and that this fact is a proof for the purposeful intent of an
:: [I]ntender....

This is reference to people being willing to accept a proven point,
and not accepting something as true because of a justification
system other than proof.

...
RZL, continued:
: He explicitly describes this /modeh al ha-emmess/ statement /as a 
: tangential interruption/: After that statement, he says, "I will now 
: return to the subject of this chapter, viz., the ultimate cause [i.e. 
: the purpose behind the universe being as it is--ZL]."

: My point was that we nevertheless see that the Rambam recognizes that 
: there is another approach to verifying truth, namely that which follows 
: the non-formal mindset of those who are /modeh al ha-emmess/...

Agreed it's tangential, which is why I doubt that if the Rambam did want
to say something that signficant, this would be its only mention.

But I don't think it makes the point you're making because the Rambam
already made design the topic of a formal proof. So the current mention
of design in this aside is talking about a proof, not another verification
system.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life is complex.
micha at aishdas.org                Decisions are complex.
http://www.aishdas.org               The Torah is complex.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                                - R' Binyamin Hecht