Monday, June 30, 2008

Philosopher 1 - 0 Abraham

And the Lord spake unto the philosopher, 'I am the Lord thy God, and I command thee to sacrifice thy only son.'

The philosopher replied, 'There's something not right here. Your commandments say, "Thou shalt not kill".'

'The Lord giveth the rules and the Lord taketh away.' replied God.

'But how do I know you are God?' insisted the philosopher. 'Perhaps you are the devil trying to fool me?'

'You must have faith,' replied God

'Faith - or insanity? Perhaps my mind is playing ricks? Or maybe you're testing me in a cunning way. You want to see if I have so little moral fibre that at the command of a deep voice booming through the clouds, I commit infanticide.'

'Me almighty!' exclaimed the Lord. 'What you're saying is that it is reasonable for you, a mere mortal, to refuse to do what I, thy Lord God, commands'

'I guess so,' said the philosopher,'and you've given me no good reason to change my mind.'

Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard (1843)

I think we can agree. The Philosopher 1, Abraham 0.