A Meditation on Intellectual Humility, or on a Fusion of Epistemic Ignorance and Covenantal Certainty
A Meditation on Intellectual Humility, or on a Fusion of Epistemic Ignorance and Covenantal Certainty
This chapter reflects on the merits of pluralism by developing the idea of intellectual humility. Drawing upon the Torah, it first describes Moses' leadership not as courageous or wise but rather as only very humble. It then examines a sense of the truth as universal, or absolute or relative. Each of these perceptions of the truth brings in their wake problems when they confront claims of competing truth. How should one think about the source of such claims, which is to say, how should one think about God? Next, it turns to the topic of religious pluralism in both its subjectivist and objectivist forms. It uses the notion of oscillation, and applies it to the objectivist and subjectivist approaches to religious claims. Finally, it returns to the problematic meaning of Israel as “chosen.” It argues that true dialogue allows for total respect for all sides involved through a combined awareness of both epistemic ignorance and convenantal certainty.
Keywords: religious pluralism, intellectual humility, Moses, truth, oscillation, religious claims, Israel
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