Sapient Thoughts #37: The Human Project — Part 5: Rationality and First Principles (2021-08-02) ​

0:00:02 [Music]
0:00:14 assalamualaikum
0:00:16 welcome to another episode of sapient
0:00:18 thoughts where we discuss theo
0:00:20 philosophical issues
0:00:21 where we give replies and answers to
0:00:23 contentions about islam
0:00:25 and where we provide a robust clear
0:00:28 unequivocal strong case
0:00:31 for the veracity of islam so in this
0:00:34 particular episode we are continuing
0:00:36 on this series that is related to or
0:00:39 talking about
0:00:40 world views and the fitra and up to this
0:00:44 point we have had a
0:00:45 quite a long extensive discussion about
0:00:48 world views
0:00:49 and we talked about its definition we
0:00:51 talked about you know the fact that
0:00:52 everyone has a world view
0:00:54 the implications of one's world view in
0:00:56 terms of you know one's opinions about
0:00:58 various things
0:00:59 answers to questions abortion euthanasia
0:01:01 whatever it might be
0:01:02 we talk about we talked about the main
0:01:04 components of a world view
0:01:06 everything from ontology and theology
0:01:08 all the way down to
0:01:09 aesthetics how one understands beauty or
0:01:11 what other results
0:01:13 a one's world view upon beauty
0:01:16 and so we also did a comparison
0:01:19 of the islamic worldview with the modern
0:01:21 world view and we spoke about that
0:01:23 extensively and in the last episode
0:01:25 we had ended off with the idea that
0:01:28 every world view
0:01:30 has axioms every worldview has basic
0:01:33 beliefs
0:01:35 now from that point someone may come now
0:01:39 especially if they understand a world
0:01:41 view or if they're
0:01:42 if they claim that they are coming from
0:01:45 a modern world view or a
0:01:47 you know or a scientific world view
0:01:50 whatever it might be
0:01:51 they may make a certain claim they may
0:01:52 say look my
0:01:54 world view the world view that i adopt
0:01:57 is based upon
0:01:59 rationality and not fairy tales because
0:02:02 you have a religion you believe in a
0:02:04 supernatural
0:02:05 you believe in a supernatural reality
0:02:07 you believe in a god and so on and so
0:02:09 forth with all of these
0:02:10 you know things my role my worldview is
0:02:13 based on rationality unlike your
0:02:14 worldview which is based on
0:02:16 just fairy tales now it's interesting
0:02:18 contention
0:02:19 but it's very important to now if that's
0:02:21 the claim that my world views based on
0:02:23 rationality
0:02:24 to break this down a little further and
0:02:26 understand
0:02:28 rationality and its limits and to
0:02:30 understand rationality in a broader
0:02:32 perspective where we incorporate the
0:02:34 idea of axioms
0:02:35 to truly understand what rationality is
0:02:39 what are its limits and you know how do
0:02:41 we move forward in this area so
0:02:43 most people when they think of
0:02:46 rationality
0:02:47 and perhaps if they haven't thought
0:02:48 about it too deeply they basically
0:02:51 bifurcate rationality in the sense that
0:02:53 they say there are things that are
0:02:54 rational
0:02:55 and there are things that are irrational
0:02:57 so a simple rational statement is
0:02:59 i am fahad an irrational statement is
0:03:02 if i said i am a married bachelor
0:03:06 now simple rational statements pretty
0:03:08 straightforward it's logical
0:03:10 an irrational statement like i am a
0:03:11 married bachelor well it's illogical
0:03:14 why well because someone who is a
0:03:16 bachelor
0:03:17 is not married and someone who's married
0:03:19 has ceased to be a bachelor in other
0:03:21 words
0:03:22 they by definition are mutually
0:03:24 exclusive
0:03:26 right so you cannot be a bachelor and be
0:03:28 married at the same time
0:03:29 now that seems irrational and seems
0:03:32 illogical
0:03:33 and it goes against the logical
0:03:35 principle of mutual exclusivity
0:03:38 now imagine that you came to me and you
0:03:40 said fahad
0:03:41 you can't be a married bachelor that's
0:03:43 that's that's
0:03:44 illogical that's irrational and i was
0:03:47 very stubborn and i was very obstinate i
0:03:49 said well you know what
0:03:50 i am a married bachelor i don't care
0:03:52 what you say prove to me
0:03:55 that i can't be a mad bachelor now you
0:03:57 might say well
0:03:58 that's very easy because a married
0:04:00 bachelor goes against the
0:04:02 logical principle of mutual exclusivity
0:04:06 you cannot be something and not be
0:04:07 something at the same time i can't be
0:04:08 fahad and not fahad at the same time
0:04:10 simple principle but then i i
0:04:14 respond i said you know what prove to me
0:04:17 that the principle is true
0:04:20 you see the principle is accepted
0:04:23 you start with the principle and then
0:04:25 you move forward
0:04:26 but you do not prove the principle and
0:04:29 so
0:04:30 in reality you can say rationality can
0:04:32 be divided into three
0:04:34 not just not bifurcated into two but
0:04:36 rather there's three categories of
0:04:37 rationality
0:04:38 you have those things those ideas and
0:04:40 statements that are rational
0:04:42 i am fahad you have those statements and
0:04:44 ideas that are irrational
0:04:45 things like i'm a married bachelor you
0:04:47 know that looks like a square circle
0:04:49 whatever it might be but then you have
0:04:52 those concepts and ideas or those
0:04:54 those concepts ideas that are outside of
0:04:57 rationality
0:04:59 that they they're outside of rationality
0:05:01 meaning
0:05:02 they cannot be proven but
0:05:05 they must be there in order for
0:05:07 rationality itself to function
0:05:09 like logical principles this third
0:05:11 category that's outside of rationality
0:05:13 we can say it's
0:05:14 supra-rational now this
0:05:17 idea of the supra-rational in the
0:05:20 islamic framework in the islamic
0:05:23 paradigm or islamic
0:05:24 world view the term that we can apply
0:05:27 in just in a general sense would be the
0:05:30 term
0:05:30 fitra that which is outside of
0:05:33 rationality and without that
0:05:35 rationality breaks down so you have the
0:05:37 super rational
0:05:39 a concept like rationality that's what
0:05:40 we call or
0:05:42 that which is irrational whatever it
0:05:45 might be but
0:05:46 you understand the point that there are
0:05:48 three categories you can say
0:05:50 irrationality
0:05:51 so therefore you have that which is
0:05:54 super irrational that which is outside
0:05:55 of rationality
0:05:56 something that you assume that you
0:05:58 cannot prove but you must start in order
0:06:00 for rationale to work
0:06:01 things like logical principles then you
0:06:03 have rationality and then you have
0:06:04 irrationality
0:06:06 now to kind of expand this out a little
0:06:08 bit more
0:06:09 this concept of the supra rational is
0:06:12 something that must be accepted there is
0:06:16 no system of thought that
0:06:19 can be devoid of the super rational or
0:06:22 can be devoid of let's say
0:06:24 those things we call axioms basic
0:06:27 beliefs
0:06:28 first principles all of those are
0:06:31 referring to
0:06:32 those that starting point that you must
0:06:35 assume
0:06:35 that you cannot prove now what if
0:06:37 someone says and they were obstinate and
0:06:39 they said well
0:06:40 i only believe in rationality i don't
0:06:42 have to buy into that whole
0:06:43 axioms axiomatic truths whatever it
0:06:46 might be
0:06:47 i just rely on my rationality
0:06:50 this can be this is a major problem
0:06:53 because
0:06:54 if you rely only on rationality you then
0:06:56 would
0:06:57 basically be saying i need proof for
0:07:00 anything that's stated the problem is
0:07:04 if you need proof for every single thing
0:07:06 that's ever stated every single thing
0:07:07 that you believe
0:07:09 that means you need proof add infinitum
0:07:12 in a sense it's like saying i doubt
0:07:14 everything
0:07:16 because the reality is there is no
0:07:18 theorem that can be internally defended
0:07:20 you can't say because this because it's
0:07:22 because this forever let me give an
0:07:24 example to drive the point home
0:07:25 imagine now my son comes into the
0:07:27 kitchen
0:07:29 and he takes out the knife from the
0:07:30 drawer and i say to him
0:07:32 look you've got to put the knife away
0:07:34 man he says why he said well the knife
0:07:36 is sharp
0:07:37 they can cut you he says why i said well
0:07:39 the knife is sharp and that's why i
0:07:40 would cut you says well why
0:07:42 i say well because the manufacturer made
0:07:43 it that way he says why
0:07:45 now notice he's demanding a proof for
0:07:47 all these a reason
0:07:48 why i need some sort of proof i need i
0:07:50 need a solid reason for this
0:07:51 why well because the knife is sharp it's
0:07:54 manufactured like that
0:07:55 he says why i say well because the
0:07:58 manufacturer made it that way well why
0:08:00 well because we need knives to like cut
0:08:02 things like fruit
0:08:04 he said why well because fruit has a
0:08:06 certain
0:08:07 uh you know has a certain utility when
0:08:09 it comes to being cut
0:08:10 it's easier to eat he says why you can
0:08:13 understand that at a certain point i
0:08:14 would say
0:08:15 because i said so that's why because
0:08:18 there's no theorem that is infinitely
0:08:19 defendable you can't say because this
0:08:21 because it's because this
0:08:22 if someone makes the claim that
0:08:25 everything can be proven rationally and
0:08:27 i will only deal with
0:08:29 the rational not the super rational not
0:08:30 axioms axiomatic truths
0:08:33 then this person is in trouble because
0:08:34 in essence what they're saying is that i
0:08:36 doubt everything
0:08:38 but why is this person in trouble
0:08:39 because if you say you doubt
0:08:41 everything you have to doubt your doubt
0:08:45 which leaves you intellectually
0:08:46 paralyzed now the reality is
0:08:49 this type of extreme skepticism it's not
0:08:52 practical either
0:08:53 imagine now you get a call and you have
0:08:56 this sort of doubting everything in
0:08:57 doubt and doubt at infinitum
0:08:59 and you just doubt everything well how
0:09:01 could you possibly function imagine
0:09:03 imagine you get a call and the and your
0:09:05 phone says
0:09:06 uh mom and you pick up your phone and
0:09:09 you say well first of all you'd be like
0:09:10 wait a minute
0:09:10 is that my mom how do i know it's my mom
0:09:13 uh it says mom
0:09:14 how can i trust the phone how do i know
0:09:16 the phone is real how do i know the
0:09:17 phone is actually functional
0:09:18 and then let's say somehow you pick up
0:09:20 the phone hello and it's your let's
0:09:22 let's say it's your mom's voice then you
0:09:23 say wait a minute is that my mom
0:09:25 how do i know it's my mom i have to
0:09:27 doubt that it's my mom and so on and so
0:09:29 forth and your mom says well could you
0:09:30 please come
0:09:30 i got a flat tire i need your help and
0:09:32 say well i'm not sure i doubt
0:09:35 you understand that this gets into
0:09:37 absurdity
0:09:38 no one lives like that and so by
0:09:40 necessity you have to have
0:09:42 something that's outside of rationality
0:09:45 that you cannot prove but must be there
0:09:48 in order for rationality to work
0:09:50 and someone gave a very interesting way
0:09:52 a very interesting
0:09:53 conceptual way of understanding this
0:09:56 that is by comparing it to
0:09:57 a solvent and imagine someone coming and
0:10:00 saying i have this great solvent
0:10:02 and it can dissolve anything
0:10:06 now that's like a person saying i can
0:10:08 rationally prove
0:10:10 anything i don't need axioms i don't
0:10:12 need this concept of that which is
0:10:13 outside the right the supra rational
0:10:16 now if someone came to you and said this
0:10:19 that i have
0:10:20 this you know solvent that can dissolve
0:10:22 anything
0:10:24 you want to ask them what bottle will
0:10:26 you keep it in
0:10:29 so you see the rationale rationality
0:10:32 is a great solvent but you still need a
0:10:34 bottle to keep it in
0:10:35 right and that's where the term ab
0:10:37 solute comes
0:10:39 absolute right that which is not
0:10:41 solvable that was not soluble that was
0:10:43 not solvable
0:10:44 you can't solve it and so you need an
0:10:46 absolute
0:10:48 so you need so you might have the
0:10:49 absolute solvent to dissolve anything
0:10:51 but the problem is you still need a
0:10:52 bottle keep it in
0:10:53 so therefore what we can see is that
0:10:55 rationality
0:10:57 you know needs something outside of
0:10:59 itself
0:11:00 from from when we look at when we apply
0:11:03 islamic parlance
0:11:04 to these concepts of the super rational
0:11:06 the rational
0:11:07 and the irrational i mentioned earlier
0:11:09 that the super rational can be
0:11:11 can be roughly equated to what we call
0:11:14 the fitrah
0:11:15 and of course there are other elements
0:11:17 of the fitrah so for instance
0:11:18 aesthetic tastes are part of the fitrah
0:11:21 certain types of smells
0:11:23 are part of the fitrah your ability to
0:11:26 appreciate let's say beautiful poetry
0:11:27 again aesthetic taste
0:11:28 are part of the fitra and you can you
0:11:30 can imagine how this would work
0:11:32 like if you go out to see a beautiful
0:11:34 sunset with your spouse
0:11:36 or your significant other and you look
0:11:38 at the sunset you say wow that's
0:11:39 beautiful
0:11:40 and your significant other says that's
0:11:42 ugly
0:11:43 prove to me rationally that that's
0:11:45 beautiful
0:11:46 again you're really there's nowhere to
0:11:48 go so
0:11:50 in this particular episode we have so
0:11:52 far discussed
0:11:53 the idea of the super rational and we
0:11:56 have touched upon
0:11:57 the concept of the fitrah we're starting
0:11:59 this discussion on the fitrah
0:12:01 in the next episode we're going to be
0:12:03 taking a deeper dive into the concept of
0:12:05 the fitrah from the islamic worldview
0:12:07 and again just to understand where we're
0:12:10 going
0:12:10 we understand that we are trying to now
0:12:13 look at
0:12:14 what are the axioms or the first
0:12:16 principles within the islamic framework
0:12:19 and we said that that those first
0:12:20 principles is what we call
0:12:23 the fitrah or they're part of the fitrah
0:12:25 in the next episode we're going to look
0:12:27 at
0:12:27 what exactly is the fitra how do we
0:12:29 understand the fitrah
0:12:31 from the islamic paradigm and we'll take
0:12:34 a deeper dive into
0:12:35 the etymology of the word and so on and
0:12:38 so forth to give a deeper understanding
0:12:39 of what the fitrah is
0:12:41 from the islamic paradigm so until then
0:12:44 this is fahad islam
0:12:45 and these are sapient thoughts
0:12:54 all right