Sunday, December 18, 2005

Am I Really an Atheist?

I've been rethinking the notion of calling myself an atheist. While it is true that I no longer believe in the primitive religious notion of God i.e. a willful conscious being outside nature; perhaps the real great philosophers and thinkers didn't use the term God in that way. Perhaps the ancient thinkers meant by God as the Ultimate Existence, or Being. Spinoza explicitly stated this, and perhaps others, such as Maimonides also meant this. I'd rather think of my self in the tradition of the great spiritual and philosophical thinkers rather than the materialist atheists. Of course, in the end, how we define ourselves doesn't really matter that much. What matters more is what we think, feel, and believe.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

you ARE in the tradition of the great spiritual and philodophical thinkers -- YOU'RE OHR CHADASH !!!

5:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

...ur (not ur of chasdim), that should read philosophical

5:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

>> What matters more is what we think, feel, and believe.

what matters in judaism is what one does -- this statement both is a statement of jewish philosophy as well as an operational definition of the halakha

this is one of the things i most like and respect about judaism -- it's what you do that counts, not what you believe in

in fact, there is very little of what can appropriately be called jewish theology

6:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous,
Mr. Ohr Chodosh didn't say a word about his jewish afiliations. I don't think that 'his doing' will fit nicely in the orthodox conception of Judaism.
He is talking about God not judaism

Spinoza,
You're right, it' s about think do and believe, but is precisely the question wha is it that we should think do and believe?

Also, why care about belief? it is only important inasmuch it guides our actions, no?

10:17 PM  
Blogger B. Spinoza said...

>but is precisely the question wha is it that we should think do and believe?

the real question is, is there a "right" or "wrong" way to think? I'm not sure. It's a question that I'm thinking about now.

>Also, why care about belief? it is only important inasmuch it guides our actions, no?

what we think, feel and believe is really what makes us who we are. Our actions flow from that.

10:43 AM  
Blogger The Jewish Freak said...

Belief in a Creator is not necessarily illogical, only belief in a personal God. Also, logical possibilities are not always the correct ones. Often I don't know what I believe. - JF

4:27 PM  
Blogger B. Spinoza said...

>Mr. Ohr Chodosh didn't say a word about his jewish afiliations.

It's true I wasn't talking about Judaism in my post per se.

> I don't think that 'his doing' will fit nicely in the orthodox conception of Judaism.

The first anonymous didn't mention orthodoxy, just Judaism. I'm not sure the hebrew prophet, Isaiah's actions would have fit nicely in the orthodox conception of Judaism either. if you understand that the primary moral code of Judaism is to not oppress the weak, and to act justly and honestly, then I think my actions do fit nicely with Judaism

8:21 PM  
Blogger B. Spinoza said...

JF,
>Belief in a Creator is not necessarily illogical, only belief in a personal God.

not sure about that statement, care to elaborate?

>Also, logical possibilities are not always the correct ones.

true enough

>Often I don't know what I believe

generally, I think it's better to know with clarity what you believe. that's why I study philosophy

8:24 PM  
Blogger The Jewish Freak said...

>not sure about that statement, care to elaborate?

It is not illogical to believe that the universe was brought about by an intelligent being. It is one of many logical possibilities that explain the origin of the universe. It may or may not be the correct possibility. I like to keep an open mind.

As for the study of philosophy, I have been reading Russell of late (Spinoza was his favorite by the way). Although he is a pompous Brit, it seems to me that he really wanted to believe in God, but just couldn't summon enough evidence for His existence.
BTW - keep up the good work! - JF

8:20 AM  
Blogger Jewish Atheist said...

Loving your blog, B. Spinoza.

I've been thinking about a similar post for a while now. Is atheism really any different than Spinoza's God or Einstein's God? Is it really different from abstract monotheism?

11:42 AM  
Blogger B. Spinoza said...

>I've been thinking about a similar post for a while now. Is atheism really any different than Spinoza's God or Einstein's God? Is it really different from abstract monotheism?

I think there very well may be differences between them, but I have not really fleshed is out yet. I have to learn more about Spinoza's views before I can say clearly

12:57 PM  

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