Albert Einstein's worldview has been widely studied and often misunderstood. Einstein states that he believes in pantheistic god Baruch Spinoza. He does not believe in a personal God who worries himself with the fate and actions of man, the view he describes as naÃÆ'¯ve. But he clarified that, "I am not an atheist", prefer to call himself agnostic, or "unbeliever." Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me." He was closely involved in his lifetime with several humanist groups.
Video Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein
Religious belief
Einstein used many labels to describe his religious views, including "agnostic", "non-religious believer" and a "pantheist" who believed in "God Spinoza". Einstein believes that God's problem is "the most difficult in the world" - a question that can not be answered "only by yes or no." He acknowledges that, "the problems involved are too broad for our limited minds."
Early Childhood
Einstein was raised by secular Jewish parents, and attended the local Catholic general elementary school in Munich. In his Autobiographic Note, Einstein wrote that he had gradually lost his faith early in childhood:
... I came - though the child of a completely non-religious (Jewish) parent - into a profound religion, who, however, reached a sudden end at the age of twelve. Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon came to the conviction that many stories in the Bible could not be true. The consequence is a positive fanatic feast of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth are deliberately deceived by the state through lies; it's a devastating impression. The distrust of any kind of authority grew out of this experience, the skepticism of the beliefs that lived in a certain social environment - an attitude that never again left me, though, later, it had been forged by the better. insight into causal relationships.
It is very clear to me that the lost youth religious paradise is the first attempt to break free from the "only private," chain of an existence dominated by primitive desires, hopes and feelings.. Out there is this enormous world, which exists separately from us humans and who stand before us like big and lasting riddles, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thought. This contemplation of the world signals liberation, and I soon realize that many people I have learned to appreciate and admire have found inner freedom and security in their pursuit. The mental grip of this extra-personal world in the frame of our ability comes to my mind, half conscious, half unconscious, as the ultimate goal. The same motivated men of the present and the past, as well as the insights they have achieved, are friends who can not be lost. The road to heaven is not as comfortable and enticing as the road to a religious paradise; but it shows that he is trustworthy, and I have never regretted choosing him.
Personal God
Einstein expressed his skepticism about the existence of an anthropomorphic God, like the religion of God Ibrahim, often describing this view as "naÃÆ'¯ve" and "like a child". In a 1947 letter he declared, "For me, the idea of ​​a personal God is an anthropological concept that I can not take seriously." In a letter to Beatrice Frohlich on December 17, 1952, Einstein stated, "The idea of ​​a personal God is very alien to me and even seems naive."
Requested by his colleague, L. E. J. Brouwer Einstein, reading the book of philosopher Eric Gutkind Choose Life , a discussion of the relationship between Jewish revelation and the modern world. On January 3, 1954 Einstein sent the following reply to Gutkind, "God's word to me is nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the bundle of legends of honorable, but still primitive.... To me Jewish religions like all other religions are incarnations the most childish superstition. "
On March 22, 1954 Einstein received a letter from Joseph Dispentiere, an Italian immigrant who once worked as an experimental engine expert in New Jersey. Dispentiere has declared himself an atheist and disappointed with news reports that have made Einstein a conventional religion. Einstein replied on March 24, 1954:
It is, of course, a lie what you read about my religious beliefs, a systematically repeated lie. I do not believe in a personal God and I never deny this but have expressed it clearly. If there is something in me that can be called religious then it is an infinite admiration for the structure of the world as far as our science can express it.
In his book Ideas and Opinions Einstein states, "In their struggle for ethical good, the religious teacher must have the position to surrender the personal doctrine of God, that is, to give up the source of fear and hope that in the past great in the hands of priests. "In December 1922 Einstein said the following about the idea of ​​the savior," The denominational tradition I can only consider historically and psychologically, they have no other meaning to me.
Pantheism and Spinoza God
Einstein has explored the idea that humans can not understand the nature of God. In an interview published in George Sylvester Viereck's Glimpses of the Great (1930), Einstein answered the question of whether he defined himself as a pantheist. He explained:
Your question is the most difficult in the world. This is not a question I can answer only with yes or no. I am not an atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problems involved are too broad for our limited mind. May I reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how well trained, can not understand the universe. We were in the position of a small child, entering a large library whose walls were covered to the ceiling with books in various languages. The boy knew that someone must have written the books. He does not know who or how. It does not understand the language in which they are written. The boy recorded a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which was not understood, but suspected only vaguely. That, I think, is the attitude of the human mind, even the largest and most cultured, to God. We see the universe arranged extraordinarily, obey certain laws, but we understand the law is only vague. Our finite mind can not understand the mysterious power that moves the constellations. I was fascinated by Spinoza Pantheism. I admire more of his contribution to modern thinking. Spinoza is the greatest modern philosopher, for he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and body as one, not as two separate things.
Einstein stated, "My view is close to Spinoza: the admiration for beauty and conviction in the logical simplicity of the order we can hold humbly and just imperfectly.I believe that we must be content with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and to treat value and moral obligation as a pure human problem - the most important of all human problems. "
On April 24, 1929, Einstein sent Rabi Herbert S. Goldstein in German: "I believe in God Spinoza, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists, not in the God who worries himself with the fate and deeds of men." He expanded this in the answers he gave to Japanese magazine Kaiz? in 1923:
Agnosticism, atheism, and deismScientific research can reduce superstition by encouraging people to think and see things in terms of cause and effect. Of course that belief, similar to the religious feeling, the rationality and clarity of the world lies behind all the scientific work of the higher order. [...] This firm conviction, a deeply bound belief, in a superior mind that reveals itself in the world of experience, represents my conception of God. In common language this can be described as "pantheistic" (Spinoza).
Einstein calls himself an agnostic rather than an atheist, stating: "I have repeatedly said that I think the idea of ​​a personal god is like a child, you can call me agnostic, but I do not share the spirit of the crusade of professionals, caused by the painful acts of liberation from the shackles of religious indoctrination received in youth.I prefer a humble attitude according to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and our own existence. "In an interview published by German poet George Sylvester Viereck, Einstein stated, "I am not an atheist." According to Prince Hubertus, Einstein said, "Given the harmony in the cosmos I, with my limited human mind, can I recognize, there are still people who say there is no God, but what really irritates me is that they quote me for support such a view. "
In 1945 Guy Raner, Jr. wrote a letter to Einstein asking whether it was true that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to move from atheism. Einstein replied, "I have never spoken to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am dumbfounded by the courage to say such a lie about me.In the light of my Jesuit priest, of course, and always an atheist... Always misleading to use anthropomorphic concepts in dealing with things beyond the scope of man - a childlike analogy. We must admire the humility of the beautiful harmony of this world structure - as far as we can understand, and that all. "
In a 1950 letter to M. Berkowitz, Einstein stated that "My position of God is agnostic, I believe that a clear awareness of the importance of moral principles for the improvement and fulfillment of life does not require the idea of ​​a lawgiver, on the basis of respect and punishment. "
According to the biographer Walter Isaacson, Einstein is more inclined to demean the atheist than the religious people. Einstein said in his correspondence, "[T] he is an atheist fanatic... like a slave who still feels the weight of their chains that they have thrown after a hard struggle They are creatures who - in their resentment against the traditional opium of the people '- can not hear music from the ball. "Although he does not believe in a personal God, he indicates that he will never attempt to combat such beliefs because" such beliefs in my opinion are better than the absence of a transcendental view. "
Belief in life after death
On July 17, 1953 a woman who was a licensed Baptist priest sent Einstein a letter asking if she felt confident about attaining eternal life with the Creator. Einstein replied, "I do not believe in individual immortality, and I regard ethics as an exclusively human concern without superhuman authority behind it." This sentiment is also expressed in Einstein's The World as I See It, "I can not imagine God who values ​​and punishes His creatures, or has the will of the kind we realize in ourselves. who must survive his physical death also beyond my comprehension, I also do not want it, such an idea is for the unreasonable fears or egoism of the weak souls.Only for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the hunch of the incredible structure of reality, along with a wholehearted effort to understand some, whether it is so small, from the reasons that manifest itself in nature. "
Einstein rejected the Hebrew conception of Heaven and Hell, especially with regard to the system of eternal rewards and punishments. In a 1915 letter to Swiss physicist Edgar Meyer Einstein writes, "I only see with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their foolishness, by which alone He can be held responsible: in my opinion, only his absence can forgive him. "He also stated," I can not imagine the God who values ​​and punishes the object of his creation, whose purpose is modeled after our own --- God, in short, which is only a reflection of human weakness. I believe that an individual who survives the death of his body, even though a weak soul harbors such thoughts through a ludicrous fear or egotism. "
Part of Einstein's tension to life after Abraham was his belief in determinism and his rejection of free will. Einstein states, "One who is truly convinced of the universal operation of the law of cause and effect can not momentarily entertain the idea of ​​a disturbing being in the course of events-that is, if he takes the hypothesis of causality seriously. for fear and religious religion little for social or moral religion, God reward and punishment can not be imagined for him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by need, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he can not be responsible, more of a dead object is responsible for the movement it passes through. "
Cosmic spirituality
In 1930 Einstein published a much-discussed essay in The New York Times Magazine about his beliefs. Under the title "Religion and Science," Einstein distinguishes three human impulses that develop religious beliefs: fear, social or moral problems, and cosmic religious feelings. The primitive understanding of causality causes fear, and fear creates supernatural beings analogous to themselves. The desire for love and support creates social and moral needs for the highest creatures; these two styles have an anthropomorphic concept of God. The third style, considered the most mature by Einstein, comes from a deep sense of awe and mystery. He said the individual felt "the greatness and the extraordinary order that manifests itself in nature... and he wants to experience the universe as a significant unity." Einstein saw science as the antagonist of the first two styles of religious belief, but as a partner in the third. He maintains, "although the areas of religion and science within them are clearly marked from each other" there is "a strong interrelationship and dependence" as aspirations for truth that come from the sphere of religion. He continues:
A religiously enlightened person seems to me to be the person who, by his best ability, frees himself from the shackles of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with the thoughts, feelings, and aspirations he holds because they are super-personal. It seems to me that what matters is the power of this superpersonal content... regardless of whether there is an attempt made to unify this content with Divine Beings, because otherwise it is impossible to count Buddhas and Spinoza as religious figures. Therefore, a religious person is pious in the sense that he does not doubt the significance of super-personal objects and targets that do not require or be able to perform a rational foundation... In this sense, religion is the ancient human effort to become clear and fully aware of these values ​​and goals and continually reinforce and extend its effects. If one considers religion and science in accordance with this definition then the conflict between them seems impossible. For science can only be sure what it is, but not what it should be...
An understanding of causality is essential to Einstein's ethical beliefs. In Einstein's view, "the doctrine of the personal God who interferes with natural events can never be denied, in the true sense, by science," because religion can always take refuge in areas that science can not yet explain. It was Einstein's conviction that in "the struggle for the ethical good, the religious teacher must have the position to surrender the personal doctrine of God, that is, release the source of fear and hope" and cultivate the "Good, Right and Beautiful in humanity itself."
Catholic Cardinal William Henry O'Connell spoke of Einstein's lack of confidence, "The result of doubts and banned speculation about time and space is the cloak underneath which hides the terrible appearance of atheism." A Rabbi Bronx criticized both Cardinal and Einstein for arguing about things beyond their expertise: "Einstein will do better if he does not proclaim his unbelief in God who is concerned with the fate and actions of the individual, both of which have left him outside their jurisdiction.. "Catholic priest and broadcaster Fulton Sheen - whose intelligence is admired by Einstein, even calls him" one of the smartest people in the world today "- describes Einstein's New York Times Magazine article" the most stupid and nonsense ".
In his 1934 book The World as I See It, Einstein extended his religiosity, "Knowledge of the existence of something we can not realize, the manifestation of the deepest reason and the most radiant beauty, accessible only by our intellect in their most basic forms - the knowledge and emotions that constitute a true religious attitude, in this sense, and in this case alone, I am a very religious person.
In 1936 Einstein received a letter from a young girl in the sixth grade. He has asked him, with encouragement from his teacher, if scientists pray. Einstein replied in the most basic way he could:
Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that happens is determined by the laws of nature, and therefore this applies to the actions of people. For this reason, a research scientist will tend to believe that events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by hope addressed to supernatural beings. However, it must be acknowledged that our true knowledge of these laws is only imperfect and fragmentary, so that, in fact, the belief in the existence of the basic laws that encompass all in nature also rests on a kind of belief. All these same beliefs have largely been justified so far by the success of scientific research. However, on the other hand, everyone involved seriously in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that spirits are manifested in the laws of the universe - a spirit far superior to mankind, and one in front of us with simple power we must feel humble. In this way, the search for science leads to a special kind of religious feeling, which is very different from the relation of a more naive personality. "
Einstein characterized himself as "deeply religious" in the following sense: "The most beautiful emotion we can experience is mysticism, this is the power of all true art and science, to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and standing with admiration is tantamount to dying, to know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifests itself as the supreme wisdom and the most brilliant beauty that our boring faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms - these knowledge, these feelings, are in the true religious center, In this sense, and in this sense alone, I belong to the rank of religious people.
In December 1952, he commented on what inspired his religiosity, "My feelings are religious as long as I am filled with the insufficiency of the human mind to understand deeper the harmony of the universe that we try to formulate as" the law of nature. "In a letter to Maurice Solovine Einstein talking about his reasons for using the word" religious "to describe his spiritual feelings," I can understand your reluctance to use the term 'religion' to describe the emotional and psychological attitude that shows itself, most clearly in Spinoza (But) I have not found a better expression than 'religious' to believe in the rational nature of reality which, at least to some extent, is accessible to human reason. "
Einstein often refers to his belief system as a "cosmic religion" and wrote an eponymous article on the subject in 1954, which later became his book Ideas and Opinions in 1955. The belief system recognizes "the magical order that manifests itself in all natural as well as in the world of ideas, "without a personal God who values ​​and punishes individuals based on their behavior. It rejects the conflict between science and religion, and considers that a cosmic religion is necessary for science. For Einstein, "science without religion is hopeless, religion without knowledge is blind." He told William Hermanns in an interview that "God is a mystery but a mystery that is understandable I have nothing but amazed when I observe the laws of nature There is no law without the lawgiver, but how does this lawgiver look? like a man enlarged. "He added with a smile" a few centuries ago I would be burned or hung, but I would be in a good company. " Einstein designed theology for the cosmic religion, where the rational discovery of the secrets of nature is a religious act. His religion and philosophy are an integral part of the same package as his scientific discovery.
Jewish Identity
In a letter to Eric Gutkind dated January 3, 1954, Einstein wrote in German, "To me Judaism like all others is the most childish incarnation of superstition, and the Jews I gladly have and with the mentality who I have a deep affinity does not have different qualities for me than anyone else.As far as my experience, they are no better than any other human group, even though they are protected from the worst cancer by lack of strength.If not, I can not see anything 'choose' about them. "
In an interview published by Time magazine with George Sylvester Viereck, Einstein talked about his feelings about Christianity. Born in Germany, Viereck supports National Socialism but he is not anti-Semitic. And like Einstein he is a pacifist. At the time of the interview Einstein was told that Viereck was not a Jew, but declared that Viereck had a "Jewish psychic adaptability," allowing Einstein to talk to him "without hindrance." Viereck begins by asking Einstein if he considers himself German or Jewish, to which Einstein replied, "It may be both." Viereck moved in the interview to ask Einstein whether the Jews should try to assimilate, to which Einstein replied "We Jews are too eager to sacrifice our idiosyncrasies to fit in." Einstein was then asked how far he was influenced by Christianity. "As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and the Talmud, I am a Jew, but I am fascinated by the radiant figure of Nazarene." Einstein was then asked whether he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, to which he replied, "No doubt, no one can read the Gospel without feeling the real presence of Jesus, his personality pulsating in every word, no myths filled with life like that.
In a conversation with the Dutch poet Willem Frederik Hermans Einstein emphasized that, "I seriously doubt that Jesus himself said that he is God, because he is too many Jews to break the great commandment: Hear Israel, the Eternal is our God and He is one! 'and not two or three. "Einstein regretted," Sometimes I think it would be better if Jesus never lives, no name is abused for power! " In his 1934 book The World as I See It he expressed his conviction that "if one cleanses Judaism from the prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ taught from all subsequent additions, especially of priests, one is left with a doctrine that can cure all human social ills. "Later in an interview in 1943, Einstein added," It is possible that we can do things greater than Jesus, because what is written in the Bible about him is poetically decorated. "
Einstein interprets the concept of God's Kingdom as referring to the best people. "I have always believed that Jesus is meant by the Kingdom of God, small groups are scattered throughout the time of people who are intellectually and ethically valuable."
In the last year of his life, he said, "If I were not a Jew, I would be a Quaker."
The look of Christian churches
The only Jewish school in Munich was closed down in 1872 due to a shortage of students, and in the absence of an alternative Einstein attended the Catholic primary school. He also received a Jewish religious education at home, but he saw no division between the two religions, as he saw "the commonality of all religions". Einstein was also impressed by the stories of the Hebrew Bible and the Passion of Jesus. According to the biographer Walter Isaacson, Einstein really enjoyed the Catholic lessons he received at school. Teachers in the school are liberal and generally do not distinguish between student religions, although some harbor a congenital but mild antisemitism. Einstein then recalled an incident involving a teacher who loved it, "One day the teacher brought a long nail for the lesson and told the students that with such nails Christ had been nailed to the Cross by the Jews" and that "Among the children in elementary anti-Semitism is prevalent... Physical attacks and humiliations on the way home from school are common, but for the most part are not too fierce. "Einstein noted," It's in Catholic schools: how much worse antisemitism should be in Prussia schools others, just imaginable. " He would later recall that "The religion of fathers, as I met in Munich during religious teachings and in the synagogue, was rejected, rather than attracting me."
Einstein met several times and collaborated with Belgian clergy scientist Georges LemaÃÆ'®tre, of the Catholic University of Leuven. Father Lemaitre is known as the first proponent of the big bang theory of the origin of the cosmos and a pioneer in applying Einstein's general theory of relativity to cosmology. Einstein proposed to Lemaitre for the 1934 Francqui Prize, which he received from the King of Belgium.
In 1940 the Time magazine quoted Einstein who praised the Catholic Church for his role in opposing the Nazis:
Only the Church stands on the path of Hitler's campaign to suppress the truth. I have never had a special interest in the Church before, but now I feel great affection and admiration because the Church itself has the courage and perseverance to defend intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced to admit that what I hate now I praise unconditionally.
The quotation has been repeatedly quoted by Pope XII's defenders. An investigation into the quote by mathematicians William C. Waterhouse and Barbara Wolff from the Einstein Archive in Jerusalem found that the statement was mentioned in an unpublished letter from 1947. In a letter to Count Montgelas, Einstein explained that the original comment was one made for a journalist regarding support "a handful of church people" for individual rights and intellectual freedom during the early administration of Hitler and that, according to Einstein, the commentary has been exaggerated exaggeratedly.
On November 11, 1950, Reverend Cornelius Greenway of Brooklyn wrote a letter to Einstein who also quoted his statement about the Church. Einstein replied, "I am, however, a little embarrassed.The words of the statement you quote do not belong to me.A shortly after Hitler came to power in Germany I had an oral conversation with a newspaper man about these things.Since then I commented has been described and exaggerated almost unrecognizable I can not with good conscience write down the statements you send to me as mine.The problem is more embarrassing for me because I, like you, I am very critical about activities, and especially activities politics, through the history of the official scholars, so my previous statement, even if reduced to my actual words (which I do not remember in detail) gives the wrong impression of my general attitude. "
In 2008, the Antiques Roadshow television program aired a screenwriter, Catherine Williamson, who authenticated a 1943 letter from Einstein, where he asserted that he "made a statement that fit the quote" to Time magazine about him. However, Einstein continued, "I made this statement during the first years of the Nazi regime - much earlier than in 1940 - and my expression is a little more moderate."
William Hermanns conversation
Einstein's conversation with William Hermanns was recorded for 34 years of correspondence. In the conversation Einstein made various statements about the Christian Churches in general and the Catholic Church in particular: "When you study the history of the Catholic Church, you will not trust the Center Party, does Hitler promise to destroy the Bolsheviks in Russia? The Church will bless Catholic warriors to march in addition to the Nazis "(March 1930). "I predict that the Vatican will support Hitler if he is in power." The Church has since Constantine always liked authoritarian States, as long as the State allowed the Church to baptize and instruct the masses "(March 1930). "So often in history the Jews have become instigators of justice and reform whether in Spain, Germany or Russia, but not long after they have done their work rather than their 'friends', often blessed by the Church, spit in their faces" (August 1943).
"But what makes me shudder is that the Catholic Church is silent.Someone does not need to be a prophet to say, 'The Catholic Church will pay for this silence... I am not saying that the unspeakable evil of the Church for 2,000 years is always a blessing of The Vatican, but vaccinating its adherents with the idea: We have the true God, and the Jews have crucified Him. "The Church sows hatred instead of love, even though the ten commandments state:" Do not kill "(August 1943). some exceptions, the Roman Catholic Church has emphasized the value of dogmas and rituals, conveying their ideas is the only way to reach heaven. I do not need to go to church to hear whether I am good or bad; my heart tells me this. "(August 1943)" I do not like to inculcate in youth the Church's doctrine of the personal God, because the Church has behaved so inhumanly in the last 2,000 years... Notice the hatred that the Church manifests against the Jews and then against the Muslims, the Crusades with their crimes, the burning bets of the inquisition, the tacit approval of Hitler's actions while the Jews and Poles dug their own graves and slaughtered. And Hitler is said to have become an altar boy! "(August 1943).
"Yes" Einstein replied aloud, "This is a man, as Cardinal Pacelli (Pope Pius XII of the future), who was behind the Concordat with Hitler, since when can anyone make covenants with Christ and Satan at the same time? (August 1943). "The Church always sells itself to those in power, and agrees to any bargain in exchange for immunity." (August 1943) "If I am permitted to give advice to the Church," Einstein continued, "I will tell them to start with repentance among themselves, and stop playing power politics." Consider what mass woes they produce in Spain, South America and Russia. "(September 1948).
In response to a Catholic convert who asked, "Are you not suggesting that the Church is the only opposite of Communism?" Einstein replied, "I need not emphasize that the Church [ sic ] eventually became a strong opponent of National Socialism, as well." Einstein's secretary, Helen Dukas added, "Dr. Einstein does not just mean the Catholic church, but all the churches." When the convert mentioned that family members had been gassed by the Nazis, Einstein replied that "he also felt guilty - adding that the whole Church, beginning with the Vatican, should feel guilty." (September 1948)
When asked for a more appropriate response, Einstein replied: "Of God, I can not accept any concept based on the authority of the Church. [...] As long as I remember, I have hated mass indoctrination I do not believe in the fear of life, the fear of death , blind faith.I can not prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I speak of him I will be a liar.I do not believe in a God of theology that respects kindness and punishes evil.My God created the law that guarded it. His universe is not ruled by wasted thinking but by irrevocable law. "William Miller of Life Magazine present at this meeting described Einstein as looking like a" living santa "and speaking with "angel ignorance."
Maps Religious and philosophical views of Albert Einstein
Philosophical belief
Einstein believed that while trying to understand nature, one must engage in philosophical inquiry and inquiry through the natural sciences.
From a young age he had an interest in philosophy. Einstein said of himself: "As a young man, I prefer books whose contents concern the worldview as a whole and, in particular, philosophical, Schopenhauer, David Hume, Mach, to some extent Kant, Plato, Aristotle."
The relationship between science and philosophy
Einstein believed that epistemology and science "depend on each other." Epistemology without contact with science becomes an empty scheme, science without epistemology is - so far as can be thought at all - primitive and chaotic. "
Free will
Like Spinoza, Einstein is a strict determinist who believes that human behavior is wholly determined by causal law. For that reason, he rejected the aspect of the opportunity of quantum theory, which famously told Niels Bohr: "God does not play dice with the universe." In a letter sent to Max Born physicist, Einstein expressed his faithful belief in causality:
You believe in the God who plays the dice, and I am in complete law and order in an objectively existing world, and which I am in a very speculative way, is trying to capture. I firmly believe , but I hope that someone will find a more realistic way, or rather as a real basis than I have found many. Even the great early success of quantum theory does not make me believe in the fundamental dice game, although I am very aware that some of our younger colleagues interpret this as a consequence of dementia.
Einstein's emphasis on 'belief' and how it relates to determinism is illustrated in a condolence letter responding to the news of Michele Besso's death, one of his lifelong friends. Einstein wrote to the family: "Now that he has gone from this weird little world in front of me it does not mean anything, for us physicists believe that the difference between the past, the present, and the future is only a persistent and stubborn illusion. "
Einstein acknowledged his interest in Spinoza's pantheistic version of a deterministic nature. American philosopher Charles Hartshorne, in an attempt to distinguish a deterministic view with his own belief in free panentheism, created a different typology of "Classic Pantheism" to distinguish their view of having the same position as the deterministic version of Spinza pantheism.
He was also an incompatible person, in 1932 he said the following:
I do not believe in free will. Schopenhauer's words: 'Man can do what he wants, but he can not do what he wants,' accompanying me in all the circumstances of my life and reconciling me to the actions of others, even if they are somewhat painful to me. Awareness of the lack of freedom will prevent me from taking me and my friends too seriously to act and decide on individuals, and from losing patience.
Moral philosophy
Einstein was a secular humanist and advocate of the Ethical Culture movement. He serves on the advisory board of New York's First Humanist Society. For the seventy-fifth anniversary of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, he argues that the idea of ​​the Ethical Culture embodies his personal concept of what is most valuable and endures in religious ideals. He observed, "Without 'ethical culture' there is no salvation for humanity." He is an honorary associate of the British humanist organization, the Rationalist Press Association and his journal among the items on his desk at the time of his death.
With regard to the punishment by God, Einstein states, "I can not imagine the God who cherishes and punishes the object of his creation, whose purpose is modeled after our own - God, in short, which is only a reflection of human weakness.I can not believe that the individual survived the death of his body, even though the weak soul harbored such thoughts through a ludicrous fear or egotism. "" The God who rewards and punishes is unimaginable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by need, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he can not be held responsible, more than the inanimate objects responsible for the movement. Therefore, science has been accused of corrupting morality, but the accusations are unfair. "One's ethical behavior should be based effectively on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; there is a religious foundation that is necessary will be in a bad way. if he should be restrained by the fear of punishment and hope of gifts after death. Because it is easy to see why the churches always fight against science and persecute its people. "
Concerning the importance of the ethics it writes, "The most important human effort is the struggle for morality in our actions, our inner balance and even our own existence depend on it, only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. live and bring it to a clear consciousness is probably the most important educational task.The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth or tied to any authority if there is any doubt about myth or about the legitimacy of authority that endangers the foundation of sound judgment and action. "" I does not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions with fear of punishment after death or that he should do things only because in this way he will be rewarded after his death.It does not make sense.The right guide during a man's life should be the burden he places on ethics and the amount of consideration he or she has for others. "I can not imagine a personal God who will directly affect the actions of the individual, or will immediately sit in judgment on the creatures themselves. I can not do this despite the fact that mechanistic causality, to some extent, has been placed in doubt by modern science. My religiosity consists of the humble admiration of an infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the very little that we, with our weak and mortal understanding, can understand reality. Morality is the most important - but to us, not to God. "
Teleology
In a conversation with Ugo Onufri in 1955, in connection with the purpose of nature, he said, "I never regard Nature as a goal or purpose, or anything that can be understood as anthropomorphic." In a 1947 letter he stated, "I also can not imagine some will or purpose outside the human sphere."
Epistemology
NaÃÆ'¯ve realism
Einstein believed that na've realism was "relatively simple" to argue. He agrees with Bertrand Russell that humans observe the effects of objects that exist on them (green, cold, violent etc.) and not the actual object itself.
Positivism
Einstein states that he is not positivist, and maintains that we use with certain rights concepts that have no access to the material of sensory experience.
Transcendental Idealism
Einstein considers that "the rejection of the objectivity of space by Kant can (...) be taken seriously." He also believes that "if Kant knows what we know today about the natural order, I believe that he will fundamentally revise his philosophical conclusions." Kant built his structure on the foundations of Kepler's and Newtonian world views Now that the foundation has been weakened, again standing up. "
Opinions about the philosopher
David Hume
Einstein is an admirer of David Hume's philosophy; in 1944 he said, "If one reads the books of Hume, one is surprised that many and even philosophers are so honored after he is able to write so many unclear things and even find a grateful reader for it." Hume has permanently influenced the development from the best, the philosopher who came after him. "
Immanuel Kant
Although some sources state that Einstein read three Critics at the age of 16 and studied Kant as a teenager, Philip Stamp indicates that this is contrary to some of his own claims. For example, in 1949, Einstein said that he "did not grow in the Kantian tradition, but began to understand the truly valuable that can be found in his doctrine, in addition to the error that is now quite clear, only very late."
In one of Einstein's letters in 1918 to Max Born, Einstein said that he began to find this "really valuable" in Kant: "I read" Prolegomena "Kant here, among others, and I began to understand the very suggestive the power that radiates from each other, and still so.After you confess to him only the existence of a synthetic a priori judgment, you are trapped.Anyway it is good to read it, even if it is not good as the work of his predecessor Hume. also has a much healthier instinct. "
Einstein explained the importance of Kant's philosophy as follows:
Hume sees that the concepts we should consider important, such as, for example, causal connections, can not be obtained from the material given to us by the senses. This insight led him to skepticism as a concern about any knowledge. Humans have a strong desire for guaranteed knowledge. That is why Hume's obvious message appears to be destructive: the sensory raw material, our sole source of knowledge, through habit can lead us to beliefs and expectations but not to knowledge and to lack of understanding of legitimate relationships. Then Kant rises to the stage with an idea that, though certainly indefensible in the form in which it puts it, marks a step towards the solution of Hume's dilemma: if we are certain to believe in knowledge, it must be based on reason itself.
Arthur Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer's view of the independence of a spatially separated system affected Einstein, who called him a genius. In their view it is a necessary assumption that the only difference at the site is sufficient to make two systems different, with two states having their own real physical state independent of the other.
In Einstein's research in Berlin, three figures hung on the wall: Faraday, Maxwell, and Schopenhauer. Einstein explained, of Schopenhauer's personal interest to him, Schopenhauer's words as "a constant consolation in the face of life's hardships, my own life and others, and the never-ending fountain of tolerance." Though Schopenhauer's works are known for their pessimism, Konrad Wachsmann remembers, "He often sits with one of Schopenhauer's outdated books, and when he sits there, he looks very happy, as if he's engaged in a quiet and cheerful job. "
Ernst Mach
Einstein liked Ernst Mach's scientific work, though not his philosophical work. He said, "Mach is a good mechanic scholar because he is a miserable philosopher."
See also
- Albert Einstein's political view
References
External links
- Einstein on Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Words of Pearls - by Albert Einstein
- Genius Einstein: Science, His Brain, Human - World Science Festival
- Lord Einstein - talk by Walter Isaacson, FORA.tv
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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