Yes I'm inclined to agree with this. I think you have as much reason to trust that the person is reliably conveying the truth as they understand it as anyone in the chain did (all things being equal), but I am skeptical of human fallibility in a way Rav Saadia Gaon ultimately isn't (though he isn't entirely naive about it), and over time and numbers, that matters.
The blog is a little broader than just that topic, but my research is primarily on the intersection of politics and theology in R. Soloveitchik's writings, so that's where the title comes from. That said, the Kuzari's argument also sits at that same intersection (just not in terms of MO and R. Soloveitchik, obviously).
R. Soloveitchik is not famously an authoritarian (quite the opposite), but the popular perception does miss some of the more minor trends in this theology. The pic I used just because I like it, but I originally made it for a presentation on his "spiritual ideal" of a "corporate state."
Yeah! The kiruv point is also really good because the move from non-religious/non-Orthodox to frum is a sort of social leap that requires a big shift in who you trust, and kiruv arguments like this are meant to try and paper over that gap and leap.
Yes I'm inclined to agree with this. I think you have as much reason to trust that the person is reliably conveying the truth as they understand it as anyone in the chain did (all things being equal), but I am skeptical of human fallibility in a way Rav Saadia Gaon ultimately isn't (though he isn't entirely naive about it), and over time and numbers, that matters.
The blog is a little broader than just that topic, but my research is primarily on the intersection of politics and theology in R. Soloveitchik's writings, so that's where the title comes from. That said, the Kuzari's argument also sits at that same intersection (just not in terms of MO and R. Soloveitchik, obviously).
R. Soloveitchik is not famously an authoritarian (quite the opposite), but the popular perception does miss some of the more minor trends in this theology. The pic I used just because I like it, but I originally made it for a presentation on his "spiritual ideal" of a "corporate state."
You can find some slides from the presentation here:
https://x.com/levidmorrow/status/1655170586572738561
Yeah! The kiruv point is also really good because the move from non-religious/non-Orthodox to frum is a sort of social leap that requires a big shift in who you trust, and kiruv arguments like this are meant to try and paper over that gap and leap.