Yitzchok Lowy

בס"ד אפשר להקדיש אחד מן השיעורים השבועיים לזכות או לע"נ וכו'. רשימת השיעורים השבועיים באידיש: זוהר, נושאי מחשבה. בעברית: מורה נבוכים, שער ההקדמות English: Daily Kavanos, Inyanei Machshava. paypal.com/donate/?hosted…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Gods and Courage youtu.be/kBj2oq8Nxuc @YitzchokL and I continue Damascius' account of true virtue, focusing on the nature of philosophical courage and the presence of virtue amongst the gods.

Neoplatonic Virtue: Hermeias on Madness I Yitzchok Lowy (@YitzchokL ) and I start reading Hermeias' commentary on the four kinds of divine madness discussed in the Phaedrus, including the important section on how theurgy can allow us to correct our choice of life.

We discuss Damascius' short descriptions of the different levels of virtue, with some curious digressions: natural virtue leads us to talk about transmigration and ethical virtue brings up eugenics!

News: different every day, but not new. Nous: new every day, but not different.

New Damascius class: How does the soul give life to the body? Also: why no one does philosophy for pleasure, whether you can meet your lover in Hades, and why pure evil is a contradiction.

Is ai conscious? idk what this "consciousness" is, fancy word. but you tell me, can it *do* anything? Oh right it is you that doesn't even know what *do* means.

Is it death that is primary in the universe or is it life? Is life the exception or is death?

The debate isn't about materialism vs spirituality or consciousness or whatever, nobody knows what these terms mean anyway. The question is simple: Are the primary things active (alive) or passive (dead)

if prohairesis is this very specific "rational choice", and akraisa is the conflict of this with epithumia - it follows that most of what we call "weakness of the will" isn't even akraisa for aristotle, more like we have wishes or opinions to have been a different person.

@shnayor haha not fair to judge on this - you need to check like hilchos toen v'nitan..

Judging by the sample, this translation is far from good. The translation of Halakha 2 simply makes no sense. Note a on pg. 110 states incorrectly, and with no source, that one must know the existence of God to be true in the same degree that he knows his hand is his hand in order to fulfill the mitzvah of "אנכי". This is not Rambam's position; see MN 1:50. And Bahag never argued that אנכי can't be counted as a mitzvah, contrary to what is quoted in the name of RMMS on page 111.

discussion about what philosophers know more than anyone else given that knowledge ≠ imagining images or sentences.

@TannadebeRY you entirely missed the point of my argument you probably know that r margulis didn't invent this pshat but geiger and others

@YitzchokL This particular section in the Rambam's writing sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of the Rambam's careful and precise arguments, and no "ruach hakodesh" arguments and polemics about "fake scholarship" will change that.

Rav Reuven Margulies does not buy the Rambam's rationale for the order of the masechtot.

@TannadebeRY this criticism is fake. order of a human book isn't supposed to be a demonstrative proof, it will necessarily be possible to have been otherwise, but rambam had ruach hakodesh and his reasons are mostly what was actually in rabenu hakadosh's mind.

@TannadebeRY and replacing meaningful but not "scientific" reasohs with formal and empty ones like the number of chapters just because "its numbers" although there isnt any good reason to organize a book by that is such a good example of why modern scholarship is fake.

@TannadebeRY like for example if someone asked "why is hilchos avel in sefer shoftim" and answered "oh because harugei beis din are mentioned and there are some halachos regarding avelus for them" r margulis would say "ah drash" but that is the historical reason rmbm himself gives..

וגם אל ירע בעיניך על אשר לא שלחתי לך מעות ('מכתב הגאולה' לבעש"ט)

Is a the cessation of prophecy more basic to religionprophecy existing? It's a thought-provoking question that warrants deeper reflection. #Faith #Prophecy FULL VIDEO _ youtube.com/watch?v=aViEMI…

אני הולך להדביק את זה מתחת לשרשורים אקראיים