Random Natural Laws Versus Direct Trends: A Cabbalistic Interpretation Based on the Teachings of Rabbi Kook

Abstract

The philosopher and historian of science Thomas Samuel Kuhn (1922–1996) argued that at the root of the scientific theories in any era lies a system of philosophical and scientific premises, and practical research and other guidelines, that comprise a system of thinking which he called a paradigm. Our perception of the world cannot be divorced from the paradigm within which we act and, as such, according to Kuhn, believes that different theories cannot be compared as they not only reflect different theories but also different systems of thinking. Thus, for example, Kuhn claims that one cannot understand the science of Aristotle through the conceptual prism of our contemporaries. This science can only be fathomed through the paradigm through which Aristotle and his contemporaries thought (Kuhn, 1962; Bird, 2000, 2004; Fuller, 2000). This chapter is primarily based on the thoughts of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (1865–1935) who served as Chief Rabbi of Israel and who does not approach the laws of science at the scientific research level, rather at the level of cabbalistic philosophy. Naturally, the doctrine that issues from this is different. This contrast serves as the dynamo behind Rabbi Kook’s teachings, but also its weak point. This is its source of strength due to the fact that Rabbi Kook examines the theory of evolution through different conceptual spectacles, and this enables him to arrive at nonstandard insights. This is also the source of his doctrine’s weakness, as the general public and, in particular, scientists view the laws of nature through the paradigm and accepted interpretation of scientific research. Rabbi Kook’s paradigm is alien to them. As Kuhn posited, the members of the science community, the researchers and those who study from a particular paradigm, find it difficult to consider other paradigms as being of value (Kuhn, 1962; Fuller, 2000). It is certainly difficult for scientists to accept a nonconventional interpretation of findings unearthed by science from such a different paradigm such as the cabbala.