Download EINSTEIN: PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS

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Moreover, in this endeavour, Einstein felt quite clearly that the questions here were too important to be just left
to the philosophers. They had certainly done an important job in clarifying ideas, but Einstein felt that they were
simply not up to the task of answering the questions that both he and they were addressing:
It has often been said, and certainly not without justification, that the man of science is a poor philosopher. Why
then should it not be the right thing for the physicist to let the philosopher do the philosophizing? Such might indeed
be the right thing at a time when the physicist believes he has at his disposal a rigid system of fundamental concepts
and fundamental laws which are so well established that waves of doubt can not reach them; but, it can not be right
at a time when the very foundations of physics itself have become problematic as they are now. At a time like the
present, when experience forces us to seek a newer and more solid foundation, the physicist cannot simply surrender
to the philosopher the critical contemplation of the theoretical foundations; for, he himself knows best, and feels more
surely where the shoe pinches. In looking for a new foundation, he must try to make clear in his own mind just how
far the concepts which he uses are justified, and are necessities.
from ”Physics and Reality” by Albert Einstein, J. Franklin Inst. 221, 349-382 (1936)
In what follows we look at what he said on science and scientific method, and on a large variety of epistemological
problems, as well as his views on metaphysics and its relationship with scientific practise.
FIG. 1: Einstein in California in 1931. At this time he was considering where to live, having already decided to leave Germany.
In California he was entertained by Millikan, Hubble, and Baade, whose experimental and observational work had helped
confirm Special and General Relativity. Einstein’s philosophical views had by this time reached their mature stage, discussed
herein.
Most of his opinions on these topics are well known. However he also tied them together with some very interesting
introspections on the nature of thinking itself. We begin with these ideas, which are often ignored in discussions of
Einstein’s ideas, together with his views on a number of other topics (notably on the relationship between belief and
reason); they form something of a seamless whole, and it is a mistake to try and divide them.
NOTE: It is important to realize, when looking at what Einstein said, that many of the remarks and views
attributed to him are complete fabrications. Indeed it has been estimated that over 90% of all quotes attributed to
Einstein, in print and on the web, were not his. In the 20th century, perhaps only Gandhi, Lenin, and Mao TseDung have been traduced to such an extent. One needs to be particularly careful of religious and political opinions
attributed to Einstein. Some of these quotes are obviously false - either because of the style they are written in, or
because the views expressed therein are so obviously at variance with what Einstein said in his books. Others are