To continue the discussion about “truth-seekers on campus” (letters, March 21): Descartes launched modern philosophy and the scientific method with an assertion that man could reach the truth through his own reason and logic. We are all aware of the tremendous benefits this approach has yielded, but we also should recognize that it has come at the expense of a greatly reduced experience of ourselves — human beings now are merely the observers of objects, rather than experiencers of existence. Science can tell us a lot about our world, but it has very little to say about its purpose or meaning. If academic values are in contradiction to the search for purpose and meaning, then so much for academia!
Finally, it is also worth pointing out that as this is written, Jewish Princetonians around the world — religious and secular alike — will celebrate the holiday of Passover, and will recount to their children the story of the Exodus from Egypt. No nation, before or after, has ever had the audacity to claim that 3 million people all experienced a revelation of Divinity together (as revelation narratives involving lone individuals are much more difficult to refute!). The unbroken chain of tradition passed from father to son may or may not persuade, but it certainly constitutes “evidence” and should not be disregarded so flippantly.