Combating Dualisms - A Follow-Up for Stak
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 5:32 am
Stak,
A long while back you had posted the following in another thread -
I was wondering how the last year of schooling has influenced your thought on this, if at all? And if you can give an update on how this discussion ultimately ended?
A long while back you had posted the following in another thread -
Stak wrote:Here is a quote from Abraham Heschel's "A Passion for Truth", I think you might like. The author is speaking about one of the Hasidic Rebbes from eastern Europe called the Kotzker Rebbe, and the reading is part of a Jewish Studies seminar I'm in.
Heschel' wrote:In the Kotzker's thought the aim of reflection was to overcome the dualisms within a person. Self-knowledge implies honesty, wholeheartedness. Self-inspection is necessary technique for the purpose of attaining Truth because we know that a person may sincerely believe something about himself that is not true.
I bolded dualisms there because we are having a sometimes heated discussion about what kind of dualism is he speaking about; the ideal versus the real, truth versus falsity, the self versus community, I versus the Other, or what have you.
At any rate, this Hasid thought self reflection was a crucial part of living a life for God and that seems to be what you are hitting at.
I was wondering how the last year of schooling has influenced your thought on this, if at all? And if you can give an update on how this discussion ultimately ended?