SPINOZISTIC  DIALOGUE - 2
 Dedicated to Spinoza's Insights


ACT 2 – HYPOTHESES

Scene 1 - Knowledge
Scene 2 - Peace-of-Mind 
Endnotes 

Setting same as for Act 1 - Scene 1.

The living room of a middle class Jewish engineer.  He is in the sixth day
of the seven days of deep mourning the death of his father. He has been
reading Job.  His wife and a Friend are seated nearby.

Cast of characters:

• Mourner (M)
• His Wife (W)
• Friends (F) (Initials are contributors.)
• Rabbi (R)
  
  

Rabbi enters.

To be continued.  In the meantime, see in given order:

Religion, G-D, Deus, ONE, Idolatry, Organic, Holy, 
Pantheism, Love G-D, Intellectual love of G-D, 
Games, Sexual Morality, Mysticism. 
 

D:Endnote 2:2b— From HirPent Gen 41:33 -  "So  now  let  Pharaoh look
                                       out a man discreet (discerning) and set him over
                                       the land of Egypt."  

bene           (Strong:0995)—a primitive root; to separate mentally (or distinguish),
                     { Spinoza's second kind of knowledge. }  

bee-naw'      (Strong:0998) from 0995—understanding;— knowledge, meaning,
                    x perfectly, understanding, wisdom.  { A passive noun. }

naw'-vahn—one who has bee-naw'.  { Cf.  Prophet—Strong:5030. }

to-boo-naw'   (Strong:8394) from 0955—intelligence; by implication an argument;
                      by extension caprice:—discretion, reason, skillfulness, understanding, 
                      wisdom.  

khaw-kam'    (Strong:2449)—a  primitive  root.  To  be  wise  (in mind, word or  act:—
                      x exceeding,  teach   wisdom  be  (make  self,  show self  wise,  deal 
                     (never so) wisely, make wiser. 
                 { Spinoza's second kind of knowledge. }

khaw-kawm' (Strong:2450)—from 2449;  { one who has khok-maw' }.

khok-maw'    (Strong:2451)—from 2449; wisdom (in a good sense):—skilful, wisdom, wisely, wit.
                     { An active noun. }

ag-am'          (Strong:098)—from  an  unused  root (meaning to collect as water);—a marsh;
                     hence a rush  (as growing in swamps); hence a stockade of reeds:—pond. pool, 
                     standing [water].  

dah'-ath        (Strong:1847)—from 3045; knowledge:—cunning, .... { See Ges:205. }
                { Spinoza's third kind of knowledge; HirPent pages following Exo 25:34— 
                  dah'-ath paired with fear (reverence) of the Lord. }

HirPent Gen 41:33 

Whereas,   otherwise,   as  a  rule,  khok-maw', comes  before  bee-naw',
here  it  says  significantly  naw'- vahn  and khaw-kawm'.  Khaw-kawm' is
related to ag-am': taking in what is before one. He who recognizes things
for  what  they  are  and  what they should be is a khaw-kawm'.  Both are
gifts,  are  nothing  that  people  have  to  create  for themselves.  But the
truest  khaw-kawm'  is  the  one  who  takes the nature of what things are
and what they are meant to be from the One Who made things what they
are and fixed what they should be.  Therefore wisdom of the Torah is the
highest.—bee-naw',  bene,  insight  or  better,  distinguishing  sight.  True
insight,  the  ability  to  get at the actual nature of things is something that
no  mortal  can  have, but distinguishing ability, i.e. to recognize the result
out  of  at  least  two  factors,  the  deductive  faculty, is the real operation
which  the  human  mind  is  to  exercise  with  its given power its intellect.
Now it is remarkable that just that mental activity which seems to us more
passive,  khok-maw', the intellect, the power of receptivity is expressed in
                                                     {Ges:277 is the root; Strong:2449}
the  active  form, khok-maw', khok-kam' in the Kal, while that operation of
the  mind  in  which  our  minds  appear  most  active, using the deductive
productive  faculty  is  always  expressed in the passive mood; naw'-vahn.
This  may  give  us  two  important  reminders.  To take in what is given in
nature and Divine Revelation of the nature and purpose of things requires
the  exercise  of  the utmost energy of the mind, a complete concentration
of   mental   powers,  so  that  the  whole  and  true  actuality  is  grasped.
Without  exercising  energy  one thinks one sees, hears and understands
things  and has only seen falsely, heard half and understood quite super-
ficially,  and  what  one  has  grasped  is  soon  lost.  Conversely ordinary
people   find  more  pleasure  in  to-boo-naw',  the  deducing,  concluding
activity  of  the  mind,  they  feel themselves more productive, more doing
something  of  their own, and accordingly require more the warning not to
be  too  quick in coming to conclusions, in making them keep themselves
more  passive  than  active,  to  keep  the  two  premises  revolving in the
minds  until the conclusion results by itself, otherwise the conclusion may
be  too  clever  and  the premises not true.  None run the danger to make
false  judgments  more  than  sagacious  people.  Hence, too,  the  deep
saying of our sages, Without theoretical knowledge (bee-naw' ), empirical
  { Spinoza's third kind of knowledge; HirPent pages following Exo 25:34— 
                       dah'-ath paired with fear (reverence) of the Lord ??}
knowledge  (dah'-ath)  is  insufficient, for theoretical knowledge must to a
big  extent  control  and  rectify  the  empirical,  and  teach to differentiate
between  illusion  and  reality.  But  still more does theoretical knowledge
require  the  empirical.   For,  without  a  sound  empirical basis all theory
builds on air.  So that it is quite clear why, ordinarily, khok-maw' is placed
before  to-boo-naw' .  But  here  the given conditions were perfectly clear.
But the question was, to conclude from the conditions what precautionary
measures were to be taken. For that the naw'-vahn was primarily required.
But that which was ascertained by bee-naw' must then be carried out with
khok-maw'  i.e.  with  the  correct estimation of the actual conditions.  For
the   practical   execution  the  khaw-kawm'  is  more  important  than  the
naw'-vahn.  The intellectual man easily takes things to be other than they
really are and makes mistakes. Hence "let Pharaoh seek a man of insight
and a wise one and set him over the land".

                                                                         { have Joy }             { have PcM }
                                                Ps 14:7 - "Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad."  
D:Endnote 2:18— From HirPs 14:7 - "Jacob will exult, Israel will attain joy."

gheel,           Strong:1523—rejoice, glad, joyful, joy, delight, exult, tremble (from fear).

kole,             Strong:6963—to call aloud, a voice or sound.

ghee-law',    Strong:1525—rejoicing, joy.  

saw-makh',   Strong:8055—rejoice, glad, joy, joyful, merry, exult, to rejoice (religiously).

tseh-makh',   Strong:6779—to sprout, spring up, grow up (of plants, hair, speech),
                                           to grow abundantly or thickly. 

 
Gheel  is  the  vociferous  expression  of  joy,  probably related to kole,

the  vocal expression  of thoughts and emotions in general.  Saw-makh',
 
related to tseh-makh' is the the  feeling  of  inner  growth,  unhampered
                               { PcM }
inner blossoming, serenity.  While  gheel  connotes  a  more  intensive

emotion  of  joy,  saw-makh'  describes  a  feeling  of  joy  that  persists.
 
It  is  quite  possible  to  become  vociferous  in gee-lah, at moments of
                                                                     { more or less }
particularly  great  elation,  but saw-makh'  is the ^ continuous sense of
{ better °PcM}
gladness,  that  serenity  which  should  accompany  us  throughout life.

For  this  reason   we   find  that  saw-makh'   frequently  follows  gheel,
                                                { better °PcM }
to  express  a  greater  degree  of  joy.   (Psalm 31:8), "I shall exult, yea,

I  will  attain  lasting  joy  through Thy goodness", and elsewhere. Thus

here,  too,  we  have  the same thought.   When redemption shall come,
                                                { better °PcM }
Jacob shall exult and Israel will attain joy everlasting.
                                              ^ 
          { A conjecture - Israel: Strong (3474, (yis-raw-ale').
          Etymologically,  I  put  together  yaw-shar'  (3474,  be  straight,
          right) with ale (410, power) and get that all who develop power
          and  knowledge  of  all kinds can be called a World benefactor.        Anti-Semitism 
          HirPent:Gen.32:25-29; Allegorically wrestled with G-D. 
              Moses, Jesus, Spinoza, Einstein, and many others ^ } 
From Etz Hayim (A Living Tree), Torah and Commentary;
The Jewish Publication Society; 2001; ISBN: 0827607121; Page 202. 

The  name  Yisra-el may be interpreted to mean "one who struggles
with G-D." Through the ages, Jews {,not all, and others} have struggled
to  understand  what  G-D  means in their lives and have contended       Know G-D
with  G-D,  insisting that God live up to the divinely proclaimed stan-
dards of justice and kindness.

 
D:Endnote 2:23— From Bk. XXI:xi

Yet evolution also remains a point of concern and controversy, because it 
deals  with  the  greatest of all mysteries, our own origins, and our human 
place in nature.   The institutions of religion had once claimed solutions to 
these  mysteries  as  their  own,  and the notion that natural science might 
find its own answers to such questions stirred immediate conflict.  Darwin 
felt   the   conflict   clearly,  and   attached  three  quotations  to  serve  as 
epigraphs  to  the  later  editions of Origin.  Each tells us something about 
Darwin's  view  of  the  proper  relationship  between  religion  and natural 
science,  but  the  third,  from  Francis Bacon's Advancement of Learning, 
is particularly revealing:  

To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety,
or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search 
too  far  or  be  too  well-studied  in the book of G-D's word, or in the       Important
book  of  G-D's  works;  divinity  or  philosophy;  but  rather  let  men 
endeavor an endless progress or proficiency in both.    { Einstein }

In  no  small  way, my purpose in writing this book has been to argue that
Darwin chose exceptionally well when he selected this quotation. 

D2:Creationism— From Bk. XXI:173

"Ken,  you're  intelligent,  you're  well-meaning, and you're energetic.  But
you  are  also  young, and you don't realize what's at stake.  In a question 
of such importance, scientific data aren't the ultimate authority.  Even you 
know that science is wrong sometimes."   

Indeed I did.  Henry M. Morris  continued  so  that  I  could  get  a  feeling 
for  what  that  ultimate  authority  was.  "Scripture  tells  us what the right 
conclusion is.  And if science,  momentarily, doesn't agree with it, then we 
have to keep working until we get the right answer.  But I have no doubts 
as  to  what that answer will be. "  Morris then excused himself, and I was 
left  to  ponder  what  he  had  said.  I  had  sat  down  thinking the man a          mock 
charlatan,  but  I  left  appreciating the depth, the power, and the sincerity 
of  his  convictions.   Nonetheless,  however  one  might  admire  Morris's 
strength  of  character,  convictions  that allow science to be bent beyond 
recognition are not merely unjustified—they are dangerous in the intellect- 
ual  and  even  in the moral sense, because they corrupt and compromise 
the integrity of human reason.  

My impromptu breakfast with Henry Morris taught me an important lesson—
the appeal of creationism is emotional {Peace-of-Mind invested in God}, not scien- 
tific: {JBYnote1}. I might  be  able to lay out  graphs and charts and diagrams,
to cite laboratory experiments and field observations, to describe the details
of  one  evolutionary  sequence  after  another,  but to the true believers of
creationism, these would all be sound and fury, signifying nothing. The truth 
would  always  be somewhere else.          Mark Twain's "Little Story"
 

 
From Pollock's Bk. XII:223—Darwin.

Nature  commands  the  adjustment under the penalty of extinction.  Now 
the  striving  of every creature to keep its own nature in harmony with the 
world   around it is the fundamental fact whose consequences are traced 
in  the  modern  doctrine of evolution.  Natural history, as Mr. Darwin and 
Mr. Spencer  have  taught  us  to  see, is the history of the never-ceasing 
effort  of  individuals  and  races  to  maintain  a  certain  correspondence 
between  the  organism and its environment. The nearer this correspond- 
ence  approaches  to  completeness,  the  more perfect and secure is the 
existence  of  the  individual  and  the  kind. Spinoza pointed to the law of 
persistence,  but  could  not  trace its working. We now know that in oper- 
ation  it  becomes  a  law  of  development.  Older by countless ages than 
conscious desire, older than anything to which we now grant the name of 
life,  the primeval and common  impulse—'the will to live, the competence 
to be'—is at length  in  the sight of all men, as it was for Spinoza's keener 
vision, the root of all action and of all that makes the world alive. 

 
 
D2:Spinozistic Meaning— From Bk. III:235.

It  is  striking  that Spinoza, in mentioning the ethical consequences of his 
theory  of  man,  uses  vocabulary  that  is  not strictly philosophical but is  Spinoza's Religion 
taken  from  religious  commonsense language, such as "G-D's command       Darwin  
or  decree"  and  "fortune."   He clearly trusts that the reader is capable of        Yovel  
understanding  these  terms  in  their  true—that is, Spinozistic—meaning. 
The  use  of  these terms establishes a bridge between metaphysical and     { Synthesizing
ethical  considerations.  Such  a  bridge  was  unproblematic in traditional       Spiritual and
metaphysical  thinking  because  of  its  peculiar  conception  of God as a         Material } 
law-giver and of man as possessing free will. But it is less straightforward 
in a naturalistic conception. 
 
{ There is no dichotomy  between Spiritualism and Materialism, just as no     { Synthesizing 
dichotomy  between  mind  and  body   ( to  which  they  are  analogous ).         Mind and
They are just two ways of looking at the same thing. Where broken apart;           Body } 
there, there is idolatry—making the infinite finite. } 

D2:Grace— From Bk. XXI:280. { Edited in accordance with an immanent G-D definition. } 

There  is  no  scientific  way {as of 1999} to  describe the spiritual concept of     Prof. Hall
grace  which  makes  it  less  than  real  to  an  absolute  materialist.  To a 
believer,  grace  is  as  real  as the presence of G-D Himself.  Do Darwin's       Important  
revelations—the discoveries that locate the sources of human passions in 
survival  mechanisms—contradict  the  reality  of  grace?   Not in the least. 
To  a  believer,  grace  is a gift from G-D that enables us to place our lives       {Religion,  
in  their  proper  context—not  by  denying  our  biological  heritage, but by    Mark Twain's
using  it  in  His service.  To be sure, our fears, our desires, our jealousies    "Little Story"}
provide  us  with  reasons  to  fail, but they also provide us with the means 
and  the  opportunity  to  succeed.  To  a  believer, G-D 's great gift was to 
provide  us  with  a  means to understand, to master, and to do good using 
both the strengths and weaknesses of human nature. 
 
Where does science sit in all of this?  I would argue that any scientist who 
believes  in  G-D possesses the faith that we were given our unique imag- 
inative  powers  not  only  to find G-D, but also to discover as much of His          Dice 
universe  as  we could.  In other words, to a religious person, science can 
be  a  pathway  towards  G-D,   not  away  from  Him,   an  additional  and 
sometimes  even  an  amazing  source  of  grace. 
 

END OF DIALOGUE 2.
 

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Since November 6, 1997 hits.

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SPINOZISTIC  DIALOGUE - 2

ACT 2 – HYPOTHESES
Revised: December 30, 2005