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In The Slifkin Affair Revisited, Part 3: The Nature of Machloket (see http://www.nishma.org/articles/commentary/slifkinrevisited3.html), I also address the issue of doubt -- but, to be honest, from a different perspective. There I use the word to describe the necessary doubt that a person should have in himself/herself. This is in distinction to the way I believe this term is used in the book quoted in this Insight and how it is used in general -- reflecting a challenge to an external idea. The reality is that the two uses of the word are actually connected. The term reflects a lack of surety. The challenge is how much one includes oneself in this question. In the Commentary article, I was using the term doubt to reflect a lack of surety in self. In this Insight, I saw the term as being used to reflect a lack of surety in an external idea. The fact is that people are more comfortable with the latter use of the term than the former. My view is not that that the former should necessarily trump the latter but that it should be a serious consideration.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Ben Hecht