Psychology or Morality? - A New Definition of Human Nature

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Psychology or Morality?: A New Definition of Human Nature

Ultimately, psychology doesn't provide the answers. It's a method of dealing with malfunctions or dysfunctions, not a system for healthy living.

Topics:

Morality; Ethics; Values, Freudian Psychology, Kabbalah & Chassidism, Tanya

with Manis Friedman and Michael Chighel

Rabbi Manis Friedman, a noted Chassidic philosopher, author and lecturer, is dean of Bais Chana Women's Institute of Jewish Studies.

Michael Chighel (Kigel) received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto for his dissertation on the Book of Job, after a specialization in 20th-century French and German thought. In Canada he taught in the departments of philosophy and of Jewish studies at the universities of York, Queen’s and Waterloo. He produced Passages and Messages for eleven seasons on Canadian television (CTS). Until this year he held the Rohr Chair of Jewish Studies at the Lauder Business School in Vienna, where he taught Torah, European ethics and political economy. He has translated a number of books and published various articles in Jewish thought. Michael and his family have made aliyah, and now live in Jerusalem.

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6 Comments

Wise One November 30, 2013

@Ari Edson This lecture is relevant to the average individual as it reminds us, that for one to still be so immature, that they are still selfish and can't see past their noses at a certain older age, proves, that that individuals development is arrested. Reply

wise one November 30, 2013

@Junior Kwanele One can overcome his selfish nature by adhering to the Torah's law, which says we should love our neighbor as ourselves :) Reply

Junior Kwanele October 26, 2013

"Selfish" .... So, how do we overcome the nature of selfishness in us? We are already a naturally selfish beings, and it is adapted from our childhood, like you said. So, how do we come to a point where the selfish nature in us ceases? Reply

dinush london, uk December 9, 2009

amazing thank you very much. it helps to know and to make sure my kids will be healthy, g-d willing.
thanks again Reply

Shmary November 12, 2008

To Ari You make the common mistake of equating watching your health with morality. To eat to much or not to, whether or not to smoke, these are not moral questions. They're questions of good sense. Someone who doesn't have morals is not an idiot; they're immoral. It is about right and wrong, even where the person suffers as a result. Rabbi Friedman makes a great point when he says that for a human to be undisciplined is unnatural. Reply

Ari Edson thornhill, ont November 11, 2008

A couple of questions I can understand that this would have significant relevance to a psychologist but is this lecture relevant to me? Even if a person has a code of morality, how can that person follow that guideline?

Take for example, an overweight person who has been told by a doctor to go on a diet. If that person really likes food it won't matter how unhealthy he is or the food is, put him in a room with a cuisine of a selection of tasty food-stuffs and no people in the room for the thirty minutes and the average person with the above characteristics will probably not be able to withstand his animalistic tendencies that can even tell him to not eat the entire table and only taste a few dishes. The average person will make the bad decision. Or even take the doctor that told the person not to eat that meal.

If that doctor is a smoker will his telling his patient to maintain his health restrict the doctor from smoking that cigarette?

How is this lecture relevant to the average individual?
How can the average individual obey his own code of morality? Reply

Psychology or Morality?: A New Definition of Human Nature

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