Albert Einstein
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Educational level: this is a research resource. |
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Resource type: this resource is a workshop. |
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Perspective: . Its authors are committed to maintaining a high level of scholarly ethics. |
Contents
Categorization Exercise: Einstein's God[edit]
Einstein has made many quotes that include theist and atheist views (though he wasn't atheist). Since he has never been consistent either way, there are questions of how to categorize Einstein views.
These questions go beyond facts found in encyclopedic entries since it covers a lot of present and past original research (See: Einstein 2006, p. 33-37: "Religion and Science"; p. 37-38 "The Religiousness of Science"; p. 38-39 "The Plight of Science"). We can learn or discover potential prescriptive categorizations, such as theist, atheist, pantheist, agnostic, paganist, polytheist, and others. Other potential descriptive categorizations would follow much deeper into philosophical views, unlike the prescriptive categorizations. For descriptive examples we can research the philosophies of Berkeley, Spinoza, Kant, Nagel, Penrose, Lacan, and others.
Here is an exercise to compare views for research and categorization.
Proposition[edit]
- Einstein's quote: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
- Erasmus's quote: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."
- Support or oppose: Einstein's quote implies Erasmus's quote.
Answer below in consensus section.
Dialog[edit]
- Both Einstein and Erasmus are found to have similar views on war. They found war to be inhumane. Some of their descriptions of war would relate soldiers as just machines, lifeless, soulless, or without consciousness. Their phraseology is meant to deprive human characteristics.(Holmes 1989, p. 21-22) In such contrast, it may provide some insight for your answer in this exercise.
Add research and rhetoric dialog here. Please keep discussion of the dialog or of this exercise on the talk page.
Consensus[edit]
If you support that Einstein's quote did imply Erasmus's quote, add 
Support; if he did not, add 
Oppose; if you have considered this exercise and feel it requires further study and improvement to this page, add 
Neutral. If you like to show participation but you haven't fully considered the exercise, just sign, ~~~~, without the support, oppose, or neutral tags. As this study progresses, you may change your answer.
Neutral -- Dzonatas 00:05, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
Oppose - panjandrum - 02:05, 15 September 2008 (VHV)- Oppose—The Jade Knight (d'viser) 21:47, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
Resources & Findings[edit]
Please use the talk page for discussion, but add, or source, any findings here.
On-line[edit]
- Was Einstein an atheist? -- Talk page discussion on Wikipedia.
- Ethical_Management_of_the_English_Language_Wikipedia/Moulton,_JWSchmidt's_investigation -- Investigative research into scientific and religious views of Picard
- Einstein's theory of gravity as religion
Books[edit]
- Einstein, Albert (2006), The World As I See It, Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, ISBN 9781599869650, http://books.google.com/books?id=JFXWosy8ywYC
- Jammer, Max (1999), Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology, Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691102979, http://books.google.com/books?id=TnCc1f1C25IC
- Holmes, Richard (1989), Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, Simon and Schuster, ISBN 9780029148518, http://books.google.com/books?id=iaLRdCFRgEcC
