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vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Afterlife"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 1.5 Afterlife </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Afterlife-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Cosmic_spirituality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Cosmic_spirituality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 1.6 Cosmic spirituality </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Cosmic_spirituality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Jewish_identity" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Jewish_identity"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 1.7 Jewish identity </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Jewish_identity-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Views_of_the_Christian_churches" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Views_of_the_Christian_churches"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 1.8 Views of the Christian churches </div> </a> <ul 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<a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Relationship_between_science_and_philosophy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.1 Relationship between science and philosophy </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Relationship_between_science_and_philosophy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Free_will" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Free_will"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.2 Free will </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Free_will-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Humanism_and_moral_philosophy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Humanism_and_moral_philosophy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.3 Humanism and moral philosophy </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Humanism_and_moral_philosophy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Teleology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Teleology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.4 Teleology </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Teleology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Epistemology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Epistemology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.5 Epistemology </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Epistemology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Naïve_realism" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Naïve_realism"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.5.1 Naïve realism </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Naïve_realism-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Positivism" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Positivism"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.5.2 Positivism </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Positivism-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Transcendental_Idealism" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Transcendental_Idealism"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.5.2.1 Transcendental Idealism </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Transcendental_Idealism-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Opinions_on_philosophers" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Opinions_on_philosophers"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6 Opinions on philosophers </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Opinions_on_philosophers-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-David_Hume" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#David_Hume"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6.1 David Hume </div> </a> <ul id="toc-David_Hume-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Immanuel_Kant" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Immanuel_Kant"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6.2 Immanuel Kant </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Immanuel_Kant-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Arthur_Schopenhauer" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Arthur_Schopenhauer"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6.3 Arthur Schopenhauer </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Arthur_Schopenhauer-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ernst_Mach" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ernst_Mach"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6.4 Ernst Mach </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ernst_Mach-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ancient_Greeks" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ancient_Greeks"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 2.6.5 Ancient Greeks </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ancient_Greeks-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 3 See also </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 4 References </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> 5 External links </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" 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Available in 15 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-15" aria-hidden="true" > 15 languages </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%86" title="الآراء الدينية والفلسفية لألبرت أينشتاين – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="الآراء الدينية والفلسفية لألبرت أينشتاين" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target">العربية</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Eyn%C5%9Fteynin_dini_v%C9%99_f%C9%99ls%C9%99fi_g%C3%B6r%C3%BC%C5%9Fl%C9%99ri" title="Albert Eynşteynin dini və fəlsəfi görüşləri – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Albert Eynşteynin dini və fəlsəfi görüşləri" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target">Azərbaycanca</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F_%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC_%E0%A6%93_%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95_%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AD%E0%A6%99%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BF" title="আলবার্ট আইনস্টাইনের ধর্মীয় ও দার্শনিক দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="আলবার্ট আইনস্টাইনের ধর্মীয় ও দার্শনিক দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target">বাংলা</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punto_de_vista_religioso_y_filos%C3%B3fico_de_Albert_Einstein" title="Punto de vista religioso y filosófico de Albert Einstein – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Punto de vista religioso y filosófico de Albert Einstein" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target">Español</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%85%D8%B0%D9%87%D8%A8%DB%8C_%D8%A2%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86" title="دیدگاه‌های مذهبی آلبرت اینشتین – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="دیدگاه‌های مذهبی آلبرت اینشتین" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target">فارسی</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_de_vue_religieux_et_philosophique_d%27Albert_Einstein" title="Point de vue religieux et philosophique d'Albert Einstein – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Point de vue religieux et philosophique d'Albert Einstein" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target">Français</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandangan_agama_dan_filosofis_Albert_Einstein" title="Pandangan agama dan filosofis Albert Einstein – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Pandangan agama dan filosofis Albert Einstein" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Bahasa Indonesia</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ka badge-Q17437796 badge-featuredarticle mw-list-item" title="featured article badge"><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%91%E1%83%94%E1%83%A0%E1%83%A2_%E1%83%90%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%A8%E1%83%A2%E1%83%90%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1_%E1%83%A0%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%92%E1%83%98%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98_%E1%83%A8%E1%83%94%E1%83%AE%E1%83%94%E1%83%93%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%98" title="ალბერტ აინშტაინის რელიგიური შეხედულებები – Georgian" lang="ka" hreflang="ka" data-title="ალბერტ აინშტაინის რელიგიური შეხედულებები" data-language-autonym="ქართული" data-language-local-name="Georgian" class="interlanguage-link-target">ქართული</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pnb mw-list-item"><a href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%D8%A6%D9%86_%D8%B3%D9%B9%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%86_%D8%AF%DB%92_%D9%85%D8%B0%DB%81%D8%A8%DB%8C_%D8%AA%DB%92_%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%81_%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA" title="آئن سٹائن دے مذہبی تے فلسفیانہ خیالات – Western Punjabi" lang="pnb" hreflang="pnb" data-title="آئن سٹائن دے مذہبی تے فلسفیانہ خیالات" data-language-autonym="پنجابی" data-language-local-name="Western Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target">پنجابی</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vis%C3%B5es_religiosas_e_filos%C3%B3ficas_de_Albert_Einstein" title="Visões religiosas e filosóficas de Albert Einstein – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Visões religiosas e filosóficas de Albert Einstein" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target">Português</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viziunile_religioase_%C8%99i_filozofice_ale_lui_Albert_Einstein" title="Viziunile religioase și filozofice ale lui Albert Einstein – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Viziunile religioase și filozofice ale lui Albert Einstein" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Română</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD_%D0%B8_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%8F" title="Эйнштейн и религия – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Эйнштейн и религия" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Русский</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD_%D1%96_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B3%D1%96%D1%8F" title="Ейнштейн і релігія – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Ейнштейн і релігія" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Українська</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%D8%A6%D9%86_%D8%B3%D9%B9%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%86_%DA%A9%DB%92_%D9%85%D8%B0%DB%81%D8%A8%DB%8C_%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1_%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%81_%D8%AE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA" title="آئن سٹائن کے مذہبی اور فلسفیانہ خیالات – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="آئن سٹائن کے مذہبی اور فلسفیانہ خیالات" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target">اردو</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%88%B1%E5%9B%A0%E6%96%AF%E5%9D%A6%E7%9A%84%E5%AE%97%E6%95%99%E8%A7%82" title="爱因斯坦的宗教观 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="爱因斯坦的宗教观" 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<div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Political_views_of_Albert_Einstein" title="Political views of Albert Einstein">Political views of Albert Einstein</a></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Albert_Einstein_(Nobel).png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Albert_Einstein_%28Nobel%29.png/220px-Albert_Einstein_%28Nobel%29.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="311" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Albert_Einstein_%28Nobel%29.png 1.5x" data-file-width="280" data-file-height="396" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein" title="Albert Einstein">Albert Einstein</a>, 1921</figcaption></figure> Albert Einstein's religious views have been widely studied and often misunderstood.<a href="#cite_note-Stachel2001-1">[1]</a> <a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein" title="Albert Einstein">Albert Einstein</a> stated "I believe in <a href="/wiki/Ethics_(Spinoza_book)#Part_I:_Of_God" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethics (Spinoza book)">Spinoza's God</a>".<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice325-2">[2]</a> He did not believe in a <a href="/wiki/Personal_God" class="mw-redirect" title="Personal God">personal God</a> who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings, a view which he described as naïve.<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice213-3">[3]</a> He clarified, however, that, "I am not an <a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">atheist</a>",<a href="#cite_note-Isaacson390-4">[4]</a> preferring to call himself an <a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">agnostic</a>,<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice340-5">[5]</a> or a "religious nonbeliever."<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice213-3">[3]</a> In other interviews, he stated that he thought that there is a "lawgiver" who sets the laws of the universe.<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a> Einstein also stated he did not believe in life after death, adding "one life is enough for me."<a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a> He was closely involved in his lifetime with several <a href="/wiki/Secular_humanist" class="mw-redirect" title="Secular humanist">humanist</a> groups.<a href="#cite_note-MercifulEnd-8">[8]</a><a href="#cite_note-IdeasOpinions-9">[9]</a> Einstein rejected a conflict between <a href="/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science" title="Relationship between religion and science">science and religion</a>, and held that cosmic religion was necessary for science.<a href="#cite_note-JHU_Press,_2005-10">[10]</a> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Religious_beliefs">Religious beliefs</h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Religious beliefs">edit</a>]</div> <a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein" title="Albert Einstein">Albert Einstein</a> himself stated "I'm not an atheist, and I don't think I can call myself a <a href="/wiki/Pantheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Pantheist">pantheist</a> ... I believe in <a href="/wiki/Ethics_(Spinoza_book)#Part_I:_Of_God" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethics (Spinoza book)">Spinoza's God</a> who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings".<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice325-2">[2]</a> Einstein believed the problem of God was the "most difficult in the world"—a question that could not be answered "simply with yes or no". He conceded that "the problem involved is too vast for our limited minds".<a href="#cite_note-Viereck-11">[11]</a> Einstein explained his view on the relationship between science, philosophy and religion in his lectures of 1939 and 1941: <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote">"For science can only ascertain what is but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts."<a href="#cite_note-Panarchy.org_1939-12">[12]</a></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Early_childhood">Early childhood</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early childhood">edit</a>]</div> Einstein was raised by secular Jewish parents and attended a local <a href="/wiki/Catholicism" class="mw-redirect" title="Catholicism">Catholic</a> public elementary school in <a href="/wiki/Munich" title="Munich">Munich</a>.<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> In his Autobiographical Notes, Einstein wrote that he had gradually lost his faith early in childhood: <cite><blockquote>... I came—though the child of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents—to a deep religiousness, which, however, reached an abrupt end at the age of twelve. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a> could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of <a href="/wiki/Freethought" title="Freethought">freethinking</a> coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment—an attitude that has never again left me, even though, later on, it has been tempered by a better insight into the causal connections.</blockquote> <blockquote>It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth, which was thus lost, was a first attempt to free myself from the chains of the 'merely personal,' from an existence dominated by wishes, hopes, and primitive feelings. Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned as a liberation, and I soon noticed that many a man whom I had learned to esteem and to admire had found inner freedom and security in its pursuit. The mental grasp of this extra-personal world within the frame of our capabilities presented itself to my mind, half consciously, half unconsciously, as a supreme goal. Similarly motivated men of the present and of the past, as well as the insights they had achieved, were the friends who could not be lost. The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></blockquote></cite> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Personal_God">Personal God</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Personal God">edit</a>]</div> Einstein expressed his <a href="/wiki/Religious_skepticism" title="Religious skepticism">skepticism</a> regarding the existence of an <a href="/wiki/Anthropomorphism" title="Anthropomorphism">anthropomorphic</a> god, often describing this view as "naïve"<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice213-3">[3]</a> and "childlike".<a href="#cite_note-Gilmore-15">[15]</a> In a 1947 letter he stated that "It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously."<a href="#cite_note-Hoffmann95-16">[16]</a> In a letter to Beatrice Frohlich on 17 December 1952, Einstein stated, "The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve."<a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a> Prompted by his colleague <a href="/wiki/L._E._J._Brouwer" title="L. E. J. Brouwer">L. E. J. Brouwer</a>, Einstein read the philosopher <a href="/wiki/Eric_Gutkind" title="Eric Gutkind">Eric Gutkind</a>'s book Choose Life,<a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a> a discussion of the relationship between Jewish revelation and the modern world. On January 3, 1954, Einstein sent the following reply to Gutkind: "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. .... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."<a href="#cite_note-Frohlichletter-19">[19]</a><a href="#cite_note-NYT-20080517-20">[20]</a><a href="#cite_note-MSNBC-20121005-21">[21]</a> In 2018 his letter to Gutkind was sold for $2.9 million.<a href="#cite_note-bbc-20181204-22">[22]</a> On 22 March 1954, Einstein received a letter from Joseph Dispentiere, an Italian immigrant who had worked as an <a href="/wiki/Machinist" title="Machinist">experimental machinist</a> in <a href="/wiki/New_Jersey" title="New Jersey">New Jersey</a>. Dispentiere had declared himself an atheist and was disappointed by a news report which had cast Einstein as conventionally religious. Einstein replied on 24 March 1954: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote">It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.<a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></blockquote> In his book Ideas and Opinions (1954) Einstein stated, "In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests."<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice213-3">[3]</a> In December 1922 Einstein said the following on the idea of a saviour, "Denominational traditions I can only consider historically and psychologically; they have no other significance for me.<a href="#cite_note-Jammer75-24">[24]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Pantheism_and_Spinoza's_God">Pantheism and Spinoza's God</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Pantheism and Spinoza's God">edit</a>]</div> Einstein had explored the idea that humans could not understand the nature of God. In an interview published in <a href="/wiki/George_Sylvester_Viereck" title="George Sylvester Viereck">George Sylvester Viereck</a>'s book Glimpses of the Great (1930), Einstein responded to a question about whether or not he defined himself as a <a href="/wiki/Pantheism" title="Pantheism">pantheist</a>. He explained: <blockquote>Your question is the most difficult in the world. It is not a question I can answer simply with yes or no. I am not an Atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza's Pantheism. I admire even more his contributions to modern thought. Spinoza is the greatest of modern philosophers, because he is the first philosopher who deals with the soul and the body as one, not as two separate things.<a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></blockquote> Einstein stated, "My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem—the most important of all human problems."<a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a> On 24 April 1929, Einstein <a href="/wiki/Transatlantic_telegraph_cable" title="Transatlantic telegraph cable">cabled</a> Rabbi <a href="/wiki/Herbert_S._Goldstein" title="Herbert S. Goldstein">Herbert S. Goldstein</a> in German: "I believe in <a href="/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza#Philosophy" title="Baruch Spinoza">Spinoza's God</a>, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."<a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a> He expanded on this in answers he gave to the Japanese magazine <a href="/wiki/Kaiz%C5%8D" title="Kaizō">Kaizō</a> in 1923: <blockquote>Scientific research can reduce superstition by encouraging people to think and view things in terms of cause and effect. Certain it is that a conviction, akin to religious feeling, of the rationality and intelligibility of the world lies behind all scientific work of a higher order. [...] This firm belief, a belief bound up with a deep feeling, in a superior mind that reveals itself in the world of experience, represents my conception of God. In common parlance this may be described as "pantheistic" (Spinoza).<a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Agnosticism_and_atheism">Agnosticism and atheism</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Agnosticism and atheism">edit</a>]</div> Einstein said people could call him an agnostic rather than an atheist, stating: "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a <a href="/wiki/Personal_god" title="Personal god">personal god</a> is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the <a href="/wiki/Fetters" class="mw-redirect" title="Fetters">fetters</a> of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."<a href="#cite_note-Gilmore-15">[15]</a> In an interview published by the German poet <a href="/wiki/George_Sylvester_Viereck" title="George Sylvester Viereck">George Sylvester Viereck</a>, Einstein stated, "I am not an Atheist."<a href="#cite_note-Viereck-11">[11]</a> According to <a href="/wiki/Hubertus,_Prince_of_L%C3%B6wenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg" title="Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg">Prince Hubertus</a>, Einstein said, "In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views."<a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a> In 1945 Guy Raner, Jr. wrote a letter to Einstein, asking him if it was true that a <a href="/wiki/Society_of_Jesus" class="mw-redirect" title="Society of Jesus">Jesuit</a> priest had caused Einstein to convert from atheism. Einstein replied, "I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist. ... It is always misleading to use anthropomorphical concepts in dealing with things outside the human sphere—childish analogies. We have to admire in humility the beautiful harmony of the structure of this world—as far as we can grasp it, and that is all."<a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a> In a 1950 letter to M. Berkowitz, Einstein stated that "My position concerning God is that of an <a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">agnostic</a>. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment."<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice340-5">[5]</a> According to biographer <a href="/wiki/Walter_Isaacson" title="Walter Isaacson">Walter Isaacson</a>, Einstein was more inclined to denigrate atheists than religious people.<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> Einstein said in correspondence, "[T]he fanatical atheists...are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle. They are creatures who—in their grudge against the traditional '<a href="/wiki/Opium_of_the_masses" class="mw-redirect" title="Opium of the masses">opium of the people</a>'—cannot bear the <a href="/wiki/Musica_universalis" title="Musica universalis">music of the spheres</a>."<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a> Although he did not believe in a personal God, he indicated that he would never seek to combat such belief because "such a belief seems to me preferable to the lack of any <a href="/wiki/Transcendence_(religion)" title="Transcendence (religion)">transcendental</a> outlook."<a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a> Einstein, in a one-and-a-half-page hand-written German-language letter to philosopher <a href="/wiki/Eric_Gutkind" title="Eric Gutkind">Eric Gutkind</a>, dated <a href="/wiki/Princeton,_New_Jersey" title="Princeton, New Jersey">Princeton, New Jersey</a>, 3 January 1954, a year and three and a half months before his death, wrote: "The word God is for me nothing but the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change anything about this. [...] For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition. [...] I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them [the <a href="/wiki/Jews" title="Jews">Jewish people</a>]."<a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a><a href="#cite_note-36">[36]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Afterlife">Afterlife</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Afterlife">edit</a>]</div> On 17 July 1953 a woman who was a licensed <a href="/wiki/Baptist" class="mw-redirect" title="Baptist">Baptist</a> pastor sent Einstein a letter asking if he had felt assured about attaining everlasting life with the Creator. Einstein replied, "I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."<a href="#cite_note-37">[37]</a> This sentiment was also expressed in Einstein's book <a href="/wiki/The_World_as_I_See_It_(book)" title="The World as I See It (book)">The World as I See It</a> (1935), "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature."<a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a> Einstein was averse to the <a href="/wiki/Afterlife#Abrahamic_religions" title="Afterlife">Abrahamic</a> conception of <a href="/wiki/Heaven" title="Heaven">Heaven</a> and <a href="/wiki/Christian_views_on_hell" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian views on hell">Hell</a>, particularly as it pertained to a system of everlasting reward and punishment. In a 1915 letter to the Swiss physicist Edgar Meyer, Einstein wrote, "I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him."<a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a> He also stated, "I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own — a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms."<a href="#cite_note-Rowe229-40">[40]</a> Part of Einstein's tension with the Abrahamic afterlife was his belief in <a href="/wiki/Determinism" title="Determinism">determinism</a> and his rejection of <a href="/wiki/Free_will" title="Free will">free will</a>. Einstein stated, "The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events — that is, if he takes the hypothesis of <a href="/wiki/Causality" title="Causality">causality</a> really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it goes through."<a href="#cite_note-NYTimes1930-41">[41]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Cosmic_spirituality">Cosmic spirituality</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Cosmic spirituality">edit</a>]</div> In 1930 Einstein published a widely discussed essay in <a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Magazine" title="The New York Times Magazine">The New York Times Magazine</a> about his beliefs.<a href="#cite_note-NYTimes1930-41">[41]</a> With the title "Religion and Science," Einstein distinguished three human impulses which develop <a href="/wiki/Religious_belief" class="mw-redirect" title="Religious belief">religious belief</a>: fear, social or moral concerns, and a cosmic religious feeling. A primitive understanding of <a href="/wiki/Causality" title="Causality">causality</a> causes fear, and the fearful invent supernatural beings analogous to themselves. The desire for love and support create a social and moral need for a supreme being; both these styles have an <a href="/wiki/Anthropomorphic" class="mw-redirect" title="Anthropomorphic">anthropomorphic</a> concept of God. The third style, which Einstein deemed most mature, originates in a deep sense of awe and mystery. He said, the individual feels "the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves in nature ... and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole." Einstein saw science as an antagonist of the first two styles of religious belief, but as a partner in the third.<a href="#cite_note-NYTimes1930-41">[41]</a> He maintained, "even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other" there are "strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies" as aspirations for truth derive from the religious sphere. He continued: <cite><blockquote>A person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their super-personal value. It seems to me that what is important is the force of this superpersonal content ... regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a Divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count <a href="/wiki/Gautama_Buddha" class="mw-redirect" title="Gautama Buddha">Buddha</a> and <a href="/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza" title="Baruch Spinoza">Spinoza</a> as religious personalities. Accordingly a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance of those super-personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation ... In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be...<a href="#cite_note-NYTimes1930-41">[41]</a></blockquote></cite> An understanding of causality was fundamental to Einstein's ethical beliefs. In Einstein's view, "the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural events could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science," for religion can always take refuge in areas that science can not yet explain. It was Einstein's belief that in the "struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope" and cultivate the "Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself."<a href="#cite_note-NYTimes1930-41">[41]</a> In his 1934 book <a href="/wiki/The_World_as_I_See_It_(book)" title="The World as I See It (book)">The World as I See It</a>, Einstein expanded on his religiosity, "A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms — it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man."<a href="#cite_note-42">[42]</a> In 1936 Einstein received a letter from a young girl in the sixth grade. She had asked him, with the encouragement of her teacher, if scientists <a href="/wiki/Prayer" title="Prayer">pray</a>. Einstein replied in the most elementary way he could: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote">Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the actions of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a supernatural being. However, it must be admitted that our actual knowledge of these laws is only imperfect and fragmentary, so that, actually, the belief in the existence of basic all-embracing laws in nature also rests on a sort of faith. All the same this faith has been largely justified so far by the success of scientific research. But, on the other hand, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.”<a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></blockquote> Einstein characterized himself as "devoutly religious" in the following sense, "The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the power of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong to the rank of devoutly religious men."<a href="#cite_note-Rowe229-40">[40]</a> In December 1952, he commented on what inspires his religiosity, "My feeling is religious insofar as I am imbued with the insufficiency of the human mind to understand more deeply the harmony of the universe which we try to formulate as 'laws of nature.'"<a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a> In a letter to <a href="/wiki/Maurice_Solovine" title="Maurice Solovine">Maurice Solovine</a> Einstein spoke about his reasons for using the word "religious" to describe his spiritual feelings, "I can understand your aversion to the use of the term 'religion' to describe an emotional and psychological attitude which shows itself most clearly in Spinoza. (But) I have not found a better expression than 'religious' for the trust in the rational nature of reality that is, at least to a certain extent, accessible to human reason."<a href="#cite_note-45">[45]</a> Einstein frequently referred to his belief system as "cosmic religion" and authored an <a href="/wiki/Eponym" title="Eponym">eponymous</a> article on the subject in 1954, which later became his book Ideas and Opinions in 1955.<a href="#cite_note-JHU_Press,_2005-10">[10]</a> The belief system recognized a "miraculous order which manifests itself in all of nature as well as in the world of ideas," devoid of a personal God who rewards and punishes individuals based on their behavior. It rejected a conflict between <a href="/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science" title="Relationship between religion and science">science and religion</a>, and held that cosmic religion was necessary for science.<a href="#cite_note-JHU_Press,_2005-10">[10]</a> For Einstein, "science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."<a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a><a href="#cite_note-donhoward-47">[47]</a> He told William Hermanns in an interview that "God is a mystery. But a comprehensible mystery. I have nothing but awe when I observe the laws of nature. There are not laws without a lawgiver, but how does this lawgiver look? Certainly not like a man magnified."<a href="#cite_note-WHermanns-48">[48]</a> He added with a smile "some centuries ago I would have been burned or hanged. Nonetheless, I would have been in good company."<a href="#cite_note-WHermanns-48">[48]</a> Einstein devised a theology for the cosmic religion, wherein the rational discovery of the secrets of nature is a religious act.<a href="#cite_note-donhoward-47">[47]</a> His religion and his philosophy were integral parts of the same package as his scientific discoveries.<a href="#cite_note-donhoward-47">[47]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Jewish_identity">Jewish identity</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Jewish identity">edit</a>]</div> In a letter to <a href="/wiki/Eric_Gutkind" title="Eric Gutkind">Eric Gutkind</a> dated 3 January 1954, Einstein wrote in German, "For me the <a href="/wiki/Judaism" title="Judaism">Jewish religion</a> like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the <a href="/wiki/Jews" title="Jews">Jewish people</a> to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything '<a href="/wiki/Chosen_people" title="Chosen people">chosen</a>' about them."<a href="#cite_note-Frohlichletter-19">[19]</a><a href="#cite_note-NYT-20080517-20">[20]</a><a href="#cite_note-MSNBC-20121005-21">[21]</a> In 1938, Einstein discussed “the hatred of the Jews by those who shun popular enlightenment. More than anything else in the world, they fear the influence of men of intellectual independence. I see in this the essential cause for the savage hatred of Jews raging in present-day Germany. To the Nazi group the Jews are not merely a means for turning the resentment of the people away from themselves, the oppressors; they see the Jews as a nonassimilable element that cannot be driven into uncritical acceptance of dogma, and that, therefore as long as it exists at all—threatens their authority because of its insistence on popular enlightenment of the masses.”<a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a> In an interview published by <a href="/wiki/Time_(magazine)" title="Time (magazine)">Time</a> magazine with <a href="/wiki/George_Sylvester_Viereck" title="George Sylvester Viereck">George Sylvester Viereck</a>, Einstein spoke of his feelings about Christianity.<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> Born in Germany, Viereck supported <a href="/wiki/Nazism" title="Nazism">National Socialism</a> but he was not anti-semitic.<a href="#cite_note-50">[50]</a> And like Einstein he was a pacifist.<a href="#cite_note-51">[51]</a><a href="#cite_note-52">[52]</a> At the time of the interview Einstein was informed that Viereck was not Jewish,<a href="#cite_note-ViereckSEP-53">[53]</a> but stated that Viereck had "the psychic adaptability of the Jew," making it possible for Einstein to talk to him "without barrier."<a href="#cite_note-ViereckSEP-53">[53]</a> Viereck began by asking Einstein if he considered himself a German or a Jew, to which Einstein responded, "It's possible to be both." Viereck moved along in the interview to ask Einstein if Jews should try to <a href="/wiki/Jewish_assimilation" title="Jewish assimilation">assimilate</a>, to which Einstein replied "We Jews have been too eager to sacrifice our idiosyncrasies in order to conform."<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> Einstein was then asked to what extent he was influenced by Christianity. "As a child I received instruction both in the <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a> and in the <a href="/wiki/Talmud" title="Talmud">Talmud</a>. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of <a href="/wiki/Nazarene_(title)" title="Nazarene (title)">the Nazarene</a>."<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> Einstein was then asked if he accepted the <a href="/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus" title="Historicity of Jesus">historical existence of Jesus</a>, to which he replied, "Unquestionably! No one can read the <a href="/wiki/Gospel" title="Gospel">Gospels</a> without feeling the actual presence of <a href="/wiki/Jesus" title="Jesus">Jesus</a>. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> In a conversation with the Dutch poet <a href="/wiki/Willem_Frederik_Hermans" title="Willem Frederik Hermans">Willem Frederik Hermans</a> Einstein stressed that, "I seriously doubt that Jesus himself said that he was God, for he was too much a Jew to violate that great commandment: <a href="/wiki/Shema_Yisrael" class="mw-redirect" title="Shema Yisrael">Hear O Israel, the Eternal is our God and He is one!</a>' and <a href="/wiki/Monotheism#Judaism" title="Monotheism">not two or three</a>."<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns62-54">[54]</a> Einstein lamented, "Sometimes I think it would have been better if Jesus had never lived. No name was so abused for the sake of power!"<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns62-54">[54]</a> In his 1934 book <a href="/wiki/The_World_as_I_See_It_(book)" title="The World as I See It (book)">The World as I See It</a> he expressed his belief that "if one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity."<a href="#cite_note-55">[55]</a> Later in a 1943 interview Einstein added, "It is quite possible that we can do greater things than Jesus, for what is written in the Bible about him is poetically embellished."<a href="#cite_note-Calaprice337-56">[56]</a> Einstein interpreted the concept of a <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_God" class="mw-redirect" title="Kingdom of God">Kingdom of God</a> as referring to the best people. "I have always believed that Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God the small group scattered all through time of intellectually and ethically valuable people."[<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>] In the last year of his life he said "If I were not a Jew I would be a <a href="/wiki/Quaker" class="mw-redirect" title="Quaker">Quaker</a>."<a href="#cite_note-57">[57]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Views_of_the_Christian_churches">Views of the Christian churches</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Views of the Christian churches">edit</a>]</div> The only Jewish school in <a href="/wiki/Munich" title="Munich">Munich</a> had been closed in 1872 for want of students, and in the absence of an alternative Einstein attended a <a href="/wiki/Catholic_school" title="Catholic school">Catholic elementary school</a>.<a href="#cite_note-58">[58]</a> He also received Jewish religious education at home, but he did not see a division between the two faiths, as he perceived the "sameness of all religions".<a href="#cite_note-Sachs-59">[59]</a> Einstein was equally impressed by the stories of the <a href="/wiki/Hebrew_Bible" title="Hebrew Bible">Hebrew Bible</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Passion_(Christianity)" class="mw-redirect" title="Passion (Christianity)">Passion of Jesus</a>.<a href="#cite_note-Sachs-59">[59]</a> According to biographer <a href="/wiki/Walter_Isaacson" title="Walter Isaacson">Walter Isaacson</a>, Einstein immensely enjoyed the Catholic religion courses which he received at the school.<a href="#cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">[31]</a> The teachers at his school were liberal and generally made no distinction among students' religions, though some harbored an innate but mild antisemitism.<a href="#cite_note-Folsing-60">[60]</a> Einstein later recalled an incident involving a teacher who particularly liked him, "One day that teacher brought a long nail to 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 at the elementary school anti-Semitism was prevalent...Physical attacks and insults on the way home from school were frequent, but for the most part not too vicious."<a href="#cite_note-Folsing-60">[60]</a> Einstein noted, "That was at a Catholic school; how much worse the antisemitism must be in other Prussian schools, one can only imagine."<a href="#cite_note-p._32-61">[61]</a> He would later in life recall that "The religion of the fathers, as I encountered it in Munich during religious instruction and in the synagogue, repelled rather than attracted me."<a href="#cite_note-62">[62]</a> Einstein met several times and collaborated with the Belgian priest scientist <a href="/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre" title="Georges Lemaître">Georges Lemaître</a>, of the <a href="/wiki/Catholic_University_of_Leuven_(1834%E2%80%931968)" title="Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)">Catholic University of Leuven</a>. Lemaître is known as the first proponent of the <a href="/wiki/Big_bang_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Big bang theory">big bang theory</a> of the origins of the cosmos and pioneer in applying Einstein's theory of general relativity to cosmology. Einstein proposed Lemaitre for the 1934 <a href="/wiki/Francqui_Prize" title="Francqui Prize">Francqui Prize</a>, which he received from the Belgian King.<a href="#cite_note-63">[63]</a> In 1940 <a href="/wiki/Time_(magazine)" title="Time (magazine)">Time</a> magazine quoted Einstein lauding the <a href="/wiki/Catholic_Church" title="Catholic Church">Catholic Church</a> for its role in opposing the <a href="/wiki/Nazism" title="Nazism">Nazis</a>: <cite><blockquote>Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.<a href="#cite_note-64">[64]</a></blockquote></cite> The quotation has since been repeatedly cited by defenders of <a href="/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII_and_the_Holocaust" title="Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust">Pope Pius XII</a>.<a href="#cite_note-Waterhouse-65">[65]</a> An investigation of the quotation by mathematician <a href="/wiki/William_C._Waterhouse" title="William C. Waterhouse">William C. Waterhouse</a> and Barbara Wolff of the <a href="/wiki/Einstein_Archives" class="mw-redirect" title="Einstein Archives">Einstein Archives</a> in <a href="/wiki/Jerusalem" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> found that the statement was mentioned in an unpublished letter from 1947. In the letter to Count Montgelas, Einstein explained that the original comment was a casual one made to a journalist regarding the support of "a few churchmen" for individual rights and intellectual freedom during the early rule of Hitler and that, according to Einstein, the comment had been drastically exaggerated.<a href="#cite_note-Waterhouse-65">[65]</a> On 11 November 1950 the Rev. Cornelius Greenway of Brooklyn wrote a letter to Einstein which had also quoted his alleged remarks about the Church. Einstein responded, "I am, however, a little embarrassed. The wording of the statement you have quoted is not my own. Shortly after Hitler came to power in Germany I had an oral conversation with a newspaper man about these matters. Since then my remarks have been elaborated and exaggerated nearly beyond recognition. I cannot in good conscience write down the statement you sent me as my own. The matter is all the more embarrassing to me because I, like yourself, I am predominantly critical concerning the activities, and especially the political activities, through history of the official clergy. Thus, my former statement, even if reduced to my actual words (which I do not remember in detail) gives a wrong impression of my general attitude."<a href="#cite_note-66">[66]</a> In 2008 the <a href="/wiki/Antiques_Roadshow" title="Antiques Roadshow">Antiques Roadshow</a> television program aired a manuscript expert, Catherine Williamson, authenticating a 1943 letter from Einstein in which he confirms that he "made a statement which corresponds approximately" to Time magazine's quotation of him. However, Einstein continued, "I made this statement during the first years of the Nazi regime—much earlier than 1940—and my expressions were a little more moderate."<a href="#cite_note-67">[67]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="William_Hermanns_conversations">William Hermanns conversations</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: William Hermanns conversations">edit</a>]</div> Einstein's conversations with William Hermanns were recorded over a 34-year correspondence. In the conversations Einstein makes various statements about the Christian Churches in general and the Catholic Church in particular: "When you learn the history of the Catholic Church, you wouldn't trust the <a href="/wiki/Centre_Party_(Germany)" title="Centre Party (Germany)">Center Party</a>. Hasn't Hitler promised to smash the Bolsheviks in Russia? The Church will bless its Catholic soldiers to march alongside the Nazis" (March 1930).<a href="#cite_note-p._32-61">[61]</a> "I predict that the Vatican will support Hitler if he comes to power. The Church since Constantine has always favoured the authoritarian State, as long as the State allows the Church to baptize and instruct the masses" (March 1930).<a href="#cite_note-68">[68]</a> "So often in history the Jews have been the instigators of justice and reform whether in Spain, Germany or Russia. But no sooner have they done their job than their 'friends', often blessed by the Church, spit in their faces" (August 1943).<a href="#cite_note-69">[69]</a> "But what makes me shudder is that the Catholic Church is silent. One doesn't need to be a prophet to say, 'The Catholic Church will pay for this silence...I do not say that the unspeakable crimes of the Church for 2,000 years had always the blessing of the Vatican, but it vaccinated its believers with the idea: We have the true God, and the Jews have crucified Him.' The Church sowed hate instead of love, though the ten commandments state: Thou shalt not kill" (August 1943).<a href="#cite_note-70">[70]</a> "With a few exceptions, the Roman Catholic Church has stressed the value of dogma and ritual, conveying the idea theirs is the only way to reach heaven. I don't need to go to Church to hear if I'm good or bad; my heart tells me this" (August 1943).<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns65-71">[71]</a> "I don't like to implant in youth the Church's doctrine of a personal God, because that Church has behaved so inhumanly in the past 2,000 years... Consider the hate the Church manifested against the Jews and then against the <a href="/wiki/Muslims" title="Muslims">Muslims</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a> with their crimes, the burning stakes of the <a href="/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition" title="Spanish Inquisition">inquisition</a>, the tacit consent of Hitler's actions while the Jews and the Poles dug their own graves and were slaughtered. And Hitler is said to have been an altar boy!" (August 1943).<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns65-71">[71]</a> "Yes" Einstein replied vehemently, "It is indeed human, as proved by <a href="/wiki/Cardinal_Pacelli" class="mw-redirect" title="Cardinal Pacelli">Cardinal Pacelli</a> (the future <a href="/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII" title="Pope Pius XII">Pope Pius XII</a>), who was behind the <a href="/wiki/Reichskonkordat" title="Reichskonkordat">Concordat</a> with Hitler. Since when can one make a pact with Christ and Satan at the same time?" (August 1943).<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns65-71">[71]</a> "The Church has always sold itself to those in power, and agreed to any bargain in return for immunity." (August 1943)<a href="#cite_note-72">[72]</a> "If I were allowed to give advice to the Churches," Einstein continued, "I would tell them to begin with a conversion among themselves, and to stop playing power politics. Consider what mass misery they have produced in <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a>, <a href="/wiki/South_America" title="South America">South America</a> and <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a>." (September 1948).<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns105-73">[73]</a> In response to a Catholic convert who asked "Didn't you state that the Church was the only opponent of Communism?" Einstein replied, "I don't have to emphasise that the Church [sic] at last became a strong opponent of National Socialism, as well." Einstein's secretary <a href="/wiki/Helen_Dukas" title="Helen Dukas">Helen Dukas</a> added, "Dr. Einstein didn't mean only the Catholic church, but all churches."<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns199-74">[74]</a> 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 guilt." (September 1948)<a href="#cite_note-Hermanns199-74">[74]</a> When asked for more precise responses in 1954, Einstein replied: "About God, I cannot accept any concept based on the authority of the Church. [...] As long as I can remember, I have resented mass indoctrination. I do not believe in the fear of life, in the fear of death, in blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him, I would be a liar. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking but by immutable laws."<a href="#cite_note-75">[75]</a> William Miller of <a href="/wiki/Life_Magazine" class="mw-redirect" title="Life Magazine">Life Magazine</a> who was present at this meeting described Einstein as looking like a "living saint" and speaking with "angelic indifference."<a href="#cite_note-76">[76]</a><a href="#cite_note-77">[77]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Philosophical_beliefs">Philosophical beliefs</h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Philosophical beliefs">edit</a>]</div> From a young age he had an interest in philosophy. Einstein said about himself: "As a young man I preferred books whose content concerned a whole world view and, in particular, philosophical ones. <a href="/wiki/Schopenhauer" class="mw-redirect" title="Schopenhauer">Schopenhauer</a>, David Hume, Mach, to some extent Kant, <a href="/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a>, <a href="/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a>."<a href="#cite_note-Howard-78">[78]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Relationship_between_science_and_philosophy">Relationship between science and philosophy</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Relationship between science and philosophy">edit</a>]</div> Einstein believed that when trying to understand nature one should engage in both philosophical enquiry and enquiry through the <a href="/wiki/Natural_sciences" class="mw-redirect" title="Natural sciences">natural sciences</a>.<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> Einstein believed that <a href="/wiki/Epistemology" title="Epistemology">epistemology</a> and science "are dependent upon each other. Epistemology without contact with science becomes an empty scheme. Science without epistemology is—insofar as it is thinkable at all—primitive and muddled."<a href="#cite_note-80">[80]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Free_will">Free will</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Free will">edit</a>]</div> Like Spinoza, Einstein was a strict <a href="/wiki/Determinist" class="mw-redirect" title="Determinist">determinist</a> who believed that human behavior was completely determined by causal laws. For that reason, he refused the chance aspect of quantum theory, famously telling <a href="/wiki/Niels_Bohr" title="Niels Bohr">Niels Bohr</a>: "God does not play dice with the universe."<a href="#cite_note-81">[81]</a> In letters sent to physicist <a href="/wiki/Max_Born" title="Max Born">Max Born</a>, Einstein revealed his belief in causal relationships: <blockquote>You believe in a God who plays dice, and I in complete law and order in a world which objectively exists, and which I in a wildly speculative way, am trying to capture. I firmly believe, but I hope that someone will discover a more realistic way, or rather a more tangible basis than it has been my lot to find. Even the great initial success of the quantum theory does not make me believe in the fundamental dice game, although I am well aware that some of our younger colleagues interpret this as a consequence of senility.<a href="#cite_note-82">[82]</a></blockquote> Einstein's emphasis on 'belief' and how it connected with <a href="/wiki/Determinism" title="Determinism">determinism</a> was illustrated in a letter of condolence responding to news of the death of <a href="/wiki/Michele_Besso" title="Michele Besso">Michele Besso</a>, one of his lifelong friends. Einstein wrote to the family: "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For us believing physicists the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."<a href="#cite_note-83">[83]</a> Einstein had admitted to a fascination with philosopher Spinoza's deterministic version of pantheism. American philosopher <a href="/wiki/Charles_Hartshorne" title="Charles Hartshorne">Charles Hartshorne</a>, in seeking to distinguish deterministic views with his own belief of free will <a href="/wiki/Panentheism" title="Panentheism">panentheism</a>, coined the distinct typology "<a href="/wiki/Classical_pantheism" title="Classical pantheism">Classical pantheism</a>" to distinguish the views of those who hold similar positions to Spinoza's deterministic version of pantheism.<a href="#cite_note-84">[84]</a> He was also an <a href="/wiki/Incompatibilism" title="Incompatibilism">incompatibilist</a>; in 1932 he said: <blockquote>I do not believe in free will. Schopenhauer's words: 'Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills,' accompany me in all situations throughout my life and reconcile me with the actions of others, even if they are rather painful to me. This awareness of the lack of free will keeps me from taking myself and my fellow men too seriously as acting and deciding individuals, and from losing my temper.<a href="#cite_note-85">[85]</a><a href="#cite_note-darge-reason-86">[86]</a></blockquote> And yet, Einstein maintains that whether or not a particular human life is meaningful depends on how the individual conceives of his or her own life with respect to the lives of fellow human beings. A primitive human being in this regard is one whose life is entirely devoted to the gratification of instinctual needs. Whereas Einstein accepts that the gratification of basic needs is a legitimate and indispensable goal, he regards it nevertheless as an elementary goal. The transition of the human mind from its initial and infantile state of disconnectedness (selfishness) to a state of unity with the universe, according to Einstein, requires the exercise of four types of freedoms: freedom from self, freedom of expression, freedom from time, and freedom of independence.<a href="#cite_note-darge-reason-86">[86]</a><a href="#cite_note-87">[87]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Humanism_and_moral_philosophy">Humanism and moral philosophy</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Humanism and moral philosophy">edit</a>]</div> Einstein was a <a href="/wiki/Secular_humanism" title="Secular humanism">secular humanist</a> and a supporter of the <a href="/wiki/Ethical_Culture" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethical Culture">Ethical Culture movement</a>. He served on the advisory board of the <a href="/wiki/First_Humanist_Society_of_New_York" title="First Humanist Society of New York">First Humanist Society of New York</a>.<a href="#cite_note-MercifulEnd-8">[8]</a> For the seventy-fifth anniversary of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, he stated that the idea of Ethical Culture embodied his personal conception of what is most valuable and enduring in religious idealism. He observed, "Without 'ethical culture' there is no salvation for humanity."<a href="#cite_note-IdeasOpinions-9">[9]</a> He was an honorary associate of the British humanist organization the <a href="/wiki/Rationalist_Press_Association" class="mw-redirect" title="Rationalist Press Association">Rationalist Press Association</a>.<a href="#cite_note-88">[88]</a> Its periodical, today known as <a href="/wiki/New_Humanist" title="New Humanist">New Humanist</a> magazine, was famously seen at the top of his reading pile at the time of his death.<a href="#cite_note-89">[89]</a> With regard to punishment by God, Einstein stated, "I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own — a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms."<a href="#cite_note-90">[90]</a> "A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it undergoes. Science has therefore been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death. It is therefore easy to see why the churches have always fought science and persecuted its devotees."<a href="#cite_note-91">[91]</a> On the importance of ethics he wrote, "The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. To make this a living force and bring it to clear consciousness is perhaps the foremost task of education. The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action."<a href="#cite_note-92">[92]</a> "I do not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions by being afraid of punishment after death or that he should do things only because in this way he will be rewarded after he dies. This does not make sense. The proper guidance during the life of a man should be the weight that he puts upon ethics and the amount of consideration that he has for others."<a href="#cite_note-93">[93]</a> "I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic <a href="/wiki/Causality_(physics)" title="Causality (physics)">causality</a> has, to a certain extent, been placed in doubt by modern science. My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Morality is of the highest importance—but for us, not for God."<a href="#cite_note-94">[94]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Teleology">Teleology</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Teleology">edit</a>]</div> In a conversation with Ugo Onufri in 1955, with regards to nature's purpose he said, "I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or goal, or anything that could be understood as anthropomorphic."<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> In a 1947 letter he stated, "I feel also not able to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere."<a href="#cite_note-Hoffmann95-16">[16]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Epistemology">Epistemology</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Epistemology">edit</a>]</div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Naïve_realism">Naïve realism</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Naïve realism">edit</a>]</div> Einstein believed <a href="/wiki/Na%C3%AFve_realism" title="Naïve realism">naïve realism</a> was "relatively simple" to disprove. He agreed with <a href="/wiki/Bertrand_Russell" title="Bertrand Russell">Bertrand Russell</a> that humans observe the qualities objects have on them (greenness, coldness, hardness, etc.) and not the actual objects themselves.<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Positivism">Positivism</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Positivism">edit</a>]</div> Einstein declared that he was no <a href="/wiki/Positivism" title="Positivism">positivist</a>, a philosophical system that declares that only those statements that are verifiable through direct observation or <a href="/wiki/Deductive_reasoning" title="Deductive reasoning">logical proof</a> are useful in determining truth.<a href="#cite_note-95">[95]</a> Einstein maintained that people validly use certain ideas and values, such as intuition or religious faith, which cannot be proven with direct observation or logic.<a href="#cite_note-96">[96]</a> Einstein acknowledged however that positivist thinkers, such as Ernst Mach, had a deep influence on him in his early years. Regarding relativity theory, he writes: "the whole direction of thought of this theory conforms with Mach's..."<a href="#cite_note-97">[97]</a> After Mach's positivism proved itself unfruitful in theory development, he considered that positivism was still useful, commenting that: "It [positivistic philosophy] cannot give birth to anything living, it can only exterminate harmful vermin."<a href="#cite_note-98">[98]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Transcendental_Idealism">Transcendental Idealism</h5>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Transcendental Idealism">edit</a>]</div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Transcendental_Idealism" class="mw-redirect" title="Transcendental Idealism">Transcendental Idealism</a></div> Einstein considered that Kant’s "denial of the objectivity of space can (...) hardly be taken seriously".<a href="#cite_note-99">[99]</a> He also believed that "if Kant had known what is known to us today of the natural order, I am certain that he would have fundamentally revised his philosophical conclusions. Kant built his structure upon the foundations of the world outlook of <a href="/wiki/Johannes_Kepler" title="Johannes Kepler">Kepler</a> and <a href="/wiki/Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Newton</a>. Now that the foundation has been undermined, the structure no longer stands."<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Opinions_on_philosophers">Opinions on philosophers</h3>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Opinions on philosophers">edit</a>]</div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="David_Hume">David Hume</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: David Hume">edit</a>]</div> Einstein was an admirer of the philosophy of <a href="/wiki/David_Hume" title="David Hume">David Hume</a>; in 1944 he said "If one reads Hume’s books, one is amazed that many and sometimes even highly esteemed philosophers after him have been able to write so much obscure stuff and even find grateful readers for it. Hume has permanently influenced the development of the best philosophers who came after him."<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> In a letter to <a href="/wiki/Moritz_Schlick" title="Moritz Schlick">Moritz Schlick</a> Einstein remarked that he had read Hume's book <a href="/wiki/An_Enquiry_Concerning_Human_Understanding" title="An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding">An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding</a> "with eagerness and admiration shortly before finding relativity theory" and that "very possibly, I wouldn't have come to the solution without those philosophical studies".<a href="#cite_note-100">[100]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Immanuel_Kant">Immanuel Kant</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Immanuel Kant">edit</a>]</div> Some sources maintain that Einstein read the three Critiques at the age of 16 and studied <a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Kant</a> as a teenager. However Philip Stamp states that this is contradicted by some of his own claims. In 1949, Einstein said that he "did not grow up in the Kantian tradition, but came to understand the truly valuable which is to be found in his doctrine, alongside of errors which today are quite obvious, only quite late."<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> In one of Einstein's letters in 1918 to <a href="/wiki/Max_Born" title="Max Born">Max Born</a>, Einstein said that he was starting to discover this "truly valuable" in Kant: "I am reading Kant's <a href="/wiki/Prolegomena_to_Any_Future_Metaphysics" title="Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics">Prolegomena</a> here, among other things, and I am beginning to comprehend the enormous suggestive power that emanated from the fellow, and still does. Once you concede to him merely the existence of <a href="/wiki/Synthetic_a_priori" class="mw-redirect" title="Synthetic a priori">synthetic a priori judgements</a>, you are trapped. Anyway it is nice to read him, even if it is not as good as his predecessor Hume's work. Hume also had a far sounder instinct."<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> Einstein explained the significance of Kant's philosophy as follows: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote">Hume saw that concepts which we must regard as essential, such as, for example, causal connection, cannot be gained from material given to us by the senses. This insight led him to a sceptical attitude as concerns knowledge of any kind. Man has an intense desire for assured knowledge. That is why Hume's clear message seems crushing: the sensory raw material, the only source of our knowledge, through habit may lead us to belief and expectation but not to the knowledge and still less to the understanding of lawful relations. Then Kant took the stage with an idea which, though certainly untenable in the form in which he put it, signified a step towards the solution of Hume's dilemma: if we have definitely assured knowledge, it must be grounded in reason itself.<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Arthur_Schopenhauer">Arthur Schopenhauer</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Arthur Schopenhauer">edit</a>]</div> <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer" title="Arthur Schopenhauer">Schopenhauer's</a> views on the independence of spatially separated systems influenced Einstein,<a href="#cite_note-Howard2-101">[101]</a> who called him a genius.<a href="#cite_note-102">[102]</a> In their view it was a necessary assumption that the mere difference in location suffices to make two systems different, with each having its own real physical state, independent of the state of the other.<a href="#cite_note-Howard2-101">[101]</a> In Einstein's Berlin study three figures hung on the wall: <a href="/wiki/Michael_Faraday" title="Michael Faraday">Faraday</a>, <a href="/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell" title="James Clerk Maxwell">Maxwell</a> and Schopenhauer.<a href="#cite_note-103">[103]</a> Einstein described, concerning the personal importance of Schopenhauer for him, Schopenhauer's words as "a continual consolation in the face of life’s hardships, my own and others’, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance."<a href="#cite_note-104">[104]</a> Although Schopenhauer's works are known for their pessimism, <a href="/wiki/Konrad_Wachsmann" title="Konrad Wachsmann">Konrad Wachsmann</a> remembered, "He often sat with one of the well-worn Schopenhauer volumes, and as he sat there, he seemed so pleased, as if he were engaged with a serene and cheerful work."<a href="#cite_note-Howard-78">[78]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Ernst_Mach">Ernst Mach</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Ernst Mach">edit</a>]</div> Einstein liked <a href="/wiki/Ernst_Mach" title="Ernst Mach">Ernst Mach</a>'s scientific work, though not his philosophical work. He said "Mach was as good a scholar of mechanics as he was a deplorable philosopher".<a href="#cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">[79]</a> However, Einstein's early epistemological views were deeply influenced by Mach. In his "Autobiographical Notes," he writes: "I see Mach's greatness in his incorruptible skepticism and independence; in my younger years, however, Mach's epistemological position also influenced me very greatly, a position which today appears to me to be essentially untenable."<a href="#cite_note-105">[105]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Ancient_Greeks">Ancient Greeks</h4>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Ancient Greeks">edit</a>]</div> Einstein expressed his admiration for the Ancient Greek philosophers, pointing out that he had been far more interested in them than in science. He also noted; "The more I read the Greeks, the more I realize that nothing like them has ever appeared in the world since.”<a href="#cite_note-106">[106]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a>]</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1266661725">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa)}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-entry{display:table-row;font-size:85%;line-height:110%;height:1.9em;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-image{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output 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References">edit</a>]</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Stachel2001-1"><a href="#cite_ref-Stachel2001_1-0">^</a> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFStachel2001" class="citation book cs1">Stachel, John (10 December 2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OAsQ_hFjhrAC&pg=PA7">Einstein from 'B' to 'Z'</a>. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 7. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8176-4143-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8176-4143-6"><bdi>978-0-8176-4143-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Einstein+from+%27B%27+to+%27Z%27&rft.pages=7&rft.pub=Springer+Science+%26+Business+Media&rft.date=2001-12-10&rft.isbn=978-0-8176-4143-6&rft.aulast=Stachel&rft.aufirst=John&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DOAsQ_hFjhrAC%26pg%3DPA7&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-Calaprice325-2">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice325_2-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice325_2-1">b</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFEinstein2010" class="citation book cs1">Einstein, Albert (11 October 2010). Calaprice, Alice (ed.). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=G_iziBAPXtEC&pg=PA325">The Ultimate Quotable Einstein</a>. Princeton University Press. p. 325. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4008-3596-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4008-3596-6"><bdi>978-1-4008-3596-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Ultimate+Quotable+Einstein&rft.pages=325&rft.pub=Princeton+University+Press&rft.date=2010-10-11&rft.isbn=978-1-4008-3596-6&rft.aulast=Einstein&rft.aufirst=Albert&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DG_iziBAPXtEC%26pg%3DPA325&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-Calaprice213-3">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice213_3-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice213_3-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice213_3-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice213_3-3">d</a> Calaprice, Alice (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 218. </li> <li id="cite_note-Isaacson390-4"><a href="#cite_ref-Isaacson390_4-0">^</a> Isaacson, Walter (2008). Einstein: His Life and Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cdxWNE7NY6QC&pg=PT390">p. 390.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-Calaprice340-5">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice340_5-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Calaprice340_5-1">b</a> Calaprice, Alice (2010). The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=G_iziBAPXtEC&pg=PA340">p. 340.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4496554935_0b573db853_o.jpg">Letter to M. Berkowitz, 25 October 1950.</a> Einstein Archive 59-215. </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHermanns1983" class="citation book cs1">Hermanns, William (1983). Einstein and the poet: in search of the cosmic man. Brookline Village: Branden. p. 60. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8283-1873-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8283-1873-0"><bdi>978-0-8283-1873-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Einstein+and+the+poet%3A+in+search+of+the+cosmic+man&rft.place=Brookline+Village&rft.pages=60&rft.pub=Branden&rft.date=1983&rft.isbn=978-0-8283-1873-0&rft.aulast=Hermanns&rft.aufirst=William&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> Isaacson, Walter (2008). Einstein: His Life and Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OzSJgdwk5esC&pg=PT461">p. 461.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-MercifulEnd-8">^ <a href="#cite_ref-MercifulEnd_8-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-MercifulEnd_8-1">b</a> Dowbiggin, Ian (2003). A Merciful End. New York: Oxford University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=E1AKtIEIIvUC&pg=PA41">p. 41.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-IdeasOpinions-9">^ <a href="#cite_ref-IdeasOpinions_9-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-IdeasOpinions_9-1">b</a> Einstein, Albert (1995). Ideas And Opinions. New York: Random House, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OeUoXHoAJMsC&pg=PT62">p. 62.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-JHU_Press,_2005-10">^ <a href="#cite_ref-JHU_Press,_2005_10-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-JHU_Press,_2005_10-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-JHU_Press,_2005_10-2">c</a> Calaprice, Alice (2005). The Einstein Almanac. Baltimore: JHU Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=if2tnCjo8WMC&pg=PA91">p. 91.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-Viereck-11">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Viereck_11-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Viereck_11-1">b</a> Viereck, George Sylvester (1930). Glimpses of the Great. New York: The Macaulay Company, pp. 372-373. </li> <li id="cite_note-Panarchy.org_1939-12"><a href="#cite_ref-Panarchy.org_1939_12-0">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.panarchy.org/einstein/science.religion.1939.html">"Albert Einstein, Science and Religion (1939)"</a>. Panarchy.org. 19 May 1939. Retrieved 22 May 2022.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Panarchy.org&rft.atitle=Albert+Einstein%2C+Science+and+Religion+%281939%29&rft.date=1939-05-19&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.panarchy.org%2Feinstein%2Fscience.religion.1939.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> Baierlein, Ralph (1992). Newton to Einstein. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6sAr-q1skCQC&pg=PA201">pp. 201-202.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a> Einstein, Albert (1949). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/EinsteinAutobiography">"Notes for an Autobiography."</a> <a href="/wiki/Saturday_Review_(U.S._magazine)" title="Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)">Saturday Review of Literature</a> (Nov. 26): 9. </li> <li id="cite_note-Gilmore-15">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gilmore_15-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gilmore_15-1">b</a> Gilmore, Michael R. (1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20020126112239/http://www.skeptic.com/archives50.html">"Einstein's God: Just What Did Einstein Believe About God?"</a> <a href="/wiki/Skeptic_(U.S._magazine)" class="mw-redirect" title="Skeptic (U.S. magazine)">Skeptic</a> 5 (2): 64; also <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QsxmMy_KjL4/Uz98xcNDBwI/AAAAAAAAAeM/NDl-k7MG-MI/s1600/Einstein+ateo+carta+a+Guy+H.+Raner+Jr.jpeg">July 2, 1945 letter to Guy Raner Jr.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-Hoffmann95-16">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Hoffmann95_16-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Hoffmann95_16-1">b</a> Hoffmann, Banesh (1972). Albert Einstein Creator and Rebel. New York: New American Library, p. 95. </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a> Calaprice, Alice (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 217. Einstein Archives <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000028555">59-797.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a> Gutkind, Eric (1952). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/chooselifethebib012800mbp">Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt.</a> New York: Henry Schuman Press. </li> <li id="cite_note-Frohlichletter-19">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Frohlichletter_19-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Frohlichletter_19-1">b</a> Randerson, James (2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/may/12/peopleinscience.religion">"Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear"</a>, The Guardian (May 13). Concerns have been raised over The Guardian's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/may/13/peopleinscience.religion">English translation.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.auctioncause.com/cf/einstein/images/large.jpg">Original letter (handwriting, German).</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131209165400/http://www.auctioncause.com/cf/einstein/images/large.jpg">Archived</a> 2013-12-09 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> "Das Wort Gott ist für mich nichts als Ausdruck und Produkt menschlicher Schwächen, die Bibel eine Sammlung ehrwürdiger aber doch reichlich primitiver Legenden.... Für mich ist die unverfälschte jüdische Religion wie alle anderen Religionen eine Incarnation des primitiven Aberglaubens." Transcribed <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://hpd.de/files/transkript_einstein-gottesbrief.pdf">here</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://uncertaintist.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/einstein-letter-gutkind-excerpts.pdf">here.</a> Translated <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://de.richarddawkins.net/articles/der-einstein-gutkind-brief-mit-transkript-und-englischer-ubersetzung">here</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://uncertaintist.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/the-three-million-dollar-meme-einstein-was-an-atheist-not/">here.</a> Copies of this letter are also located in the Albert Einstein Archives: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000015665">33-337 (TLXTr)</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000015666">33-338 (ALSX)</a>, and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000028656">59-897 (TLTr).</a> Alice Calaprice (2011). The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, p. 342, cites Einstein Archives 33-337. </li> <li id="cite_note-NYT-20080517-20">^ <a href="#cite_ref-NYT-20080517_20-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-NYT-20080517_20-1">b</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFOverbye2008" class="citation web cs1">Overbye, Dennis (May 17, 2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/science/17einsteinw.html">"Einstein Letter on God Sells for $404,000"</a>. <a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a>. Retrieved October 8, 2012.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=The+New+York+Times&rft.atitle=Einstein+Letter+on+God+Sells+for+%24404%2C000&rft.date=2008-05-17&rft.aulast=Overbye&rft.aufirst=Dennis&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2008%2F05%2F17%2Fscience%2F17einsteinw.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-MSNBC-20121005-21">^ <a href="#cite_ref-MSNBC-20121005_21-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-MSNBC-20121005_21-1">b</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBryner2012" class="citation web cs1">Bryner, Jeanna (October 5, 2012). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131207063528/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49306421">"Does God Exist? Einstein's 'God Letter' Does, And It's Up For Sale"</a>. <a href="/wiki/NBC_News" title="NBC News">NBC News</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49306421">the original</a> on December 7, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2012.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Does+God+Exist%3F+Einstein%27s+%27God+Letter%27+Does%2C+And+It%27s+Up+For+Sale&rft.pub=NBC+News&rft.date=2012-10-05&rft.aulast=Bryner&rft.aufirst=Jeanna&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fid%2F49306421&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-bbc-20181204-22"><a href="#cite_ref-bbc-20181204_22-0">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46438116">"Albert Einstein's 'God letter' sells for $2.9m"</a>. BBC News. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=BBC+News&rft.atitle=Albert+Einstein%27s+%27God+letter%27+sells+for+%242.9m&rft.date=2018-12-04&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld-us-canada-46438116&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a> Dukas, Helen (1981). Albert Einstein the Human Side. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=T5R7JsRRtoIC&pg=PA43">p. 43.</a> Einstein Archives <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000030228">59-454</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alberteinstein.info/vufind1/Record/EAR000030229">59-495</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-Jammer75-24"><a href="#cite_ref-Jammer75_24-0">^</a> Jammer, Max (2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s6681.pdf">Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology.</a> Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=58HQXMp1ESwC&pg=PA75">p. 75.</a>; Originally published in Albert Einstein (1929). Gelegentliches. ["A Miscellany"] Berlin: Soncino Gesellschaft, p. 9. </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a> G. S. Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (Macauley, New York, 1930) p. 372-373. </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a> Holton, G. J. and Yehuda Elkana (1997). Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives. New York: Dover Publications, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HLYgJYqGjhgC&pg=PA309">p. 309.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a> Isaacson, Walter (2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cdxWNE7NY6QC&dq">Einstein: His Life and Universe.</a> New York: Simon and Schuster, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cdxWNE7NY6QC&pg=PT389">pp. 388-389.</a> Reported by The New York Times 25 April 1929 under the headline <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1929/04/25/archives/einstein-believes-in-spinozas-god-scientist-defines-his-faith-in.html">"Einstein believes in 'Spinoza's God'"</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a> Einstein, Albert (2010). Ideas And Opinions. New York: Three Rivers Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=vLm4oojTPnkC&pg=PA262">p. 262.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a> Clark, Ronald W. (1971). Einstein: The Life and Times. New York: World Publishing Company, p. 425. </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a> Brian, Denis (1996). Einstein: A Life. New York: J. Wiley, p. 344. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?170863">Einstein's Letter of 2 July 1945</a>; cf. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/columns/michael-shermer/einstein%E2%80%99s-god">Michael Shermer 13 December 2010</a>; cf. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25260/lot/1252/">Bonhams sale, 14 Mar 2019, Eric C. Carens collection</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-Einstein_and_Faith-31">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-4">e</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-5">f</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Einstein_and_Faith_31-6">g</a> Isaacson, Walter (2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070408011014/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1607298,00.html">"Einstein and Faith"</a> Time 169 (April 5): 47. </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a> Jammer, Max (2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TnCc1f1C25IC&dq">Einstein and Religion: physics and theology.</a> Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=58HQXMp1ESwC&pg=PA97">p. 97</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a> Jammer, Max (2002). Einstein and Religion: physics and theology. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=58HQXMp1ESwC&pg=PA51">p. 51</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=58HQXMp1ESwC&pg=PA149">149.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a> "Das Wort Gott ist für mich nichts als Ausdruck und Produkt menschlicher Schwächen, die Bibel eine Sammlung ehrwürdiger aber doch reichlich primitiver Legenden. Keine noch so feinsinnige Auslegung kann (für mich) etwas daran ändern. […] Für mich ist die unverfälschte jüdische Religion wie alle anderen Religionen eine Incarnation des primitiven Aberglaubens. […] kann ich nichts „Auserwähltes“ an ihm [dem jüdischen Volk] wahrnehmen." </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a> Albert Einstein's "God Letter" fetches US $2,400,000 at Christie's New York auction house on 4 December 2018 <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-05/einstein-god-letter-fetches-3.9-million-at-new-york-auction/10584228">[1]</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://io9.com/5954119/einsteins-i-dont-believe-in-god-letter-has-sold-on-ebay--and-youre-not-going-to-believe-the-price">"Einstein's "I don't believe in God" letter has sold on eBay..."</a>, 23 Oct 2012, io9.com </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a> Dukas, Helen (1981). Albert Einstein the Human Side. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2fswAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39">p. 39.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a> Einstein, Albert (1999). The World as I See It. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aNKOo94tO6cC&pg=PA5">p. 5.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a> Calaprice, Alice (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 201. </li> <li id="cite_note-Rowe229-40">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Rowe229_40-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Rowe229_40-1">b</a> Rowe, David and Robert Schulmann (2007). Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism. 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University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 92.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Peek+behind+the+Veil+of+Maya%3A+Einstein%2C+Schopenhauer%2C+and+the+Historical+Background+of+the+Conception+of+Space+as+a+Ground+for+the+Individuation+of+Physical+Systems&rft.pages=92&rft.pub=University+of+Pittsburgh+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.aulast=Don&rft.aufirst=Howard&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-PhiloIdea-79">^ <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-4">e</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-5">f</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-6">g</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-7">h</a> <a href="#cite_ref-PhiloIdea_79-8">i</a> Stamp, Philip (2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pitp.physics.ubc.ca/quant_lect/2014/GR100/Einstein_philosophical%20ideas3.pdf">"Einstein: Philosophical Ideas."</a> Retrieved 14 February 2017. </li> <li id="cite_note-80"><a href="#cite_ref-80">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/einstein-philscience/#ConAlbEinPhiPhy">"Einstein's Philosophy of Science"</a>. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2019.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Einstein%27s+Philosophy+of+Science&rft.btitle=The+Stanford+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophy&rft.pub=Metaphysics+Research+Lab%2C+Stanford+University&rft.date=2019&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fplato.stanford.edu%2Fentries%2Feinstein-philscience%2F%23ConAlbEinPhiPhy&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-81"><a href="#cite_ref-81">^</a> Gardner, Martin (1996). The Night Is Large: Collected Essays, 1938-1995. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oXEaTdstD7gC&pg=PA430">p. 430.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-82"><a href="#cite_ref-82">^</a> Adams, John (1995). Risk. London: University College London Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=swTOWkpOP68C&pg=PA18">p. 17.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-83"><a href="#cite_ref-83">^</a> Goldsmith, Donald and Marcia Bartusiak (2006). E = Einstein: His Life, His Thought, and His Influence on Our Culture. New York: Sterling Publishing, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zGzcV40b3IkC&pg=PA187">p. 187.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-84"><a href="#cite_ref-84">^</a> David Ray, John B. Cobb, Clark H. Pinnock (2000). Searching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue Between Process and Free Will Theists, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 177. The Encyclopedia of Religion Volume 10 refers to this view as an "extreme <a href="/wiki/Monism" title="Monism">monism</a>" where, "God decides or determines everything, including our supposed decisions." </li> <li id="cite_note-85"><a href="#cite_ref-85">^</a> Elkana, Yehuda and Adi Ophir, eds. (1979). Einstein 1879-1979: Exhibition. New York: Jewish National and University Library, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.einstein-website.de/z_biography/credo.html">p. 48.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-darge-reason-86">^ <a href="#cite_ref-darge-reason_86-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-darge-reason_86-1">b</a> Dargie, Waltenegus (July 2018). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.amazon.com/-/de/gp/product/398195274X?pf_rd_r=R43K5K1CA2HYGHNPRGES&pf_rd_p=a4a8d0ee-5cb5-435e-9a72-eb4fa4e39174">THE REASON FOR LIFE: According to Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Leo Tolstoy</a>, Lamsi Publication (pp. 117-119) </li> <li id="cite_note-87"><a href="#cite_ref-87">^</a> Einstein, A. (1954). Ideas and Opinions (Trans.: Sonja Bergmann) New York (crown). p. 31 </li> <li id="cite_note-88"><a href="#cite_ref-88">^</a> Cooke, Bill (2004) The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association, Prometheus Books, New York. ISBN 978-1591021964. p138. </li> <li id="cite_note-89"><a href="#cite_ref-89">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://heritage.humanists.uk/albert-einstein/#">"Albert Einstein"</a>. Humanist Heritage. <a href="/wiki/Humanists_UK" title="Humanists UK">Humanists UK</a>. Retrieved 20 February 2023.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Humanist+Heritage&rft.atitle=Albert+Einstein&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fheritage.humanists.uk%2Falbert-einstein%2F%23&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-90"><a href="#cite_ref-90">^</a> Seldes, George (1996). The Great Thoughts. New York: Ballantine Books, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZirsLPyzJEgC&pg=PT273">p. 134.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-91"><a href="#cite_ref-91">^</a> Calaprice, Alice (2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BVp3QgAACAAJ">The Expanded Quotable Einstein</a>. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=G_iziBAPXtEC&pg=PA326">p. 216.</a> Albert Einstein, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/einstein_religion.html">"Religion and Science"</a> New York Times Magazine (9 Nov. 1930): 3-4. </li> <li id="cite_note-92"><a href="#cite_ref-92">^</a> Dukas, Helen (1981). Albert Einstein, The Human Side. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=T5R7JsRRtoIC&pg=PA95">p. 95.</a> Letter to a Brooklyn minister November 20, 1950. </li> <li id="cite_note-93"><a href="#cite_ref-93">^</a> Bucky, Peter (1992). The Private Albert Einstein. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, p. 86. </li> <li id="cite_note-94"><a href="#cite_ref-94">^</a> Dukas, Helen (1981). Albert Einstein, The Human Side. Princeton: Princeton University Press, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=T5R7JsRRtoIC&pg=PA66">p. 66.</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-95"><a href="#cite_ref-95">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFEinsteinDyson2010" class="citation book cs1">Einstein, Albert; Dyson, Freeman (2010). Calaprice, Alice (ed.). Ultimate Quotable Einstein. Princeton University Press. p. 395. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0691160146" title="Special:BookSources/978-0691160146"><bdi>978-0691160146</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Ultimate+Quotable+Einstein&rft.pages=395&rft.pub=Princeton+University+Press&rft.date=2010&rft.isbn=978-0691160146&rft.aulast=Einstein&rft.aufirst=Albert&rft.au=Dyson%2C+Freeman&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> <code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_book" title="Template:Cite book">cite book</a>}}</code>: <code class="cs1-code">|work=</code> ignored (<a href="/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>) </li> <li id="cite_note-96"><a href="#cite_ref-96">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAlbert1944" class="citation book cs1 cs1-prop-long-vol">Albert, Einstein (1944). Schilpp, Paul Arthur (ed.). The Library of Living Philosophers. Vol. V, ”The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell”. ”Remarks on Bertrand Russell’s Theory of Knowledge”.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Library+of+Living+Philosophers&rft.pages=%E2%80%9DRemarks+on+Bertrand+Russell%E2%80%99s+Theory+of+Knowledge%E2%80%9D&rft.date=1944&rft.aulast=Albert&rft.aufirst=Einstein&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-97"><a href="#cite_ref-97">^</a> Einstein, Albert (1973). Albert Einstein to Armin Weiner, September 18, 1930, unpublished letter from the Archives of the Burndy Library in Norwalk, Connecticut, cited by Holton, Gerald J. "Where is Reality? The Answers of Einstein." In Science and Synthesis, pp. 55. Edited by UNESCO. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1971. Reprinted in Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein. Cambridge: Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 55. </li> <li id="cite_note-98"><a href="#cite_ref-98">^</a> Einstein, Albert; Besso, Michele (1979). Albert Einstein to Michele Besso, May 13, 1917. In Correspondance 1903-1955 Translated with Notes and an Introduction by Pierre Speziali. Paris: Hermann. p. 68 </li> <li id="cite_note-99"><a href="#cite_ref-99">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWeinert2005" class="citation journal cs1">Weinert, Friedel (October 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://raxional.com/einstein-and-kant/">"Einstein and Kant"</a>. Philosophy. 80 (314): 585–593. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0031819105000483">10.1017/S0031819105000483</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:170876297">170876297</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Philosophy&rft.atitle=Einstein+and+Kant&rft.volume=80&rft.issue=314&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E585-%3C%2Fspan%3E593&rft.date=2005-10&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1017%2FS0031819105000483&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A170876297%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Weinert&rft.aufirst=Friedel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fraxional.com%2Feinstein-and-kant%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-100"><a href="#cite_ref-100">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFStadler2010" class="citation book cs1">Stadler, Friedrich, ed. (2010). The Present Situation in the Philosophy of Science. Springer Netherlands. p. 349.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Present+Situation+in+the+Philosophy+of+Science&rft.pages=349&rft.pub=Springer+Netherlands&rft.date=2010&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-Howard2-101">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Howard2_101-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Howard2_101-1">b</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHoward2005" class="citation journal cs1">Howard, Don A. (December 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www3.nd.edu/~dhoward1/vol58no12p34_40.pdf">"Albert Einstein as a Philosopher of Science"</a> (PDF). Physics Today. 58 (12). American Institute of Physics: 34–40. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bibcode (identifier)">Bibcode</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005PhT....58l..34H">2005PhT....58l..34H</a>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1063%2F1.2169442">10.1063/1.2169442</a>. Retrieved 2015-03-08 – via University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, author's personal webpage. <q>From Schopenhauer he had learned to regard the independence of spatially separated systems as, virtually, a necessary a priori assumption ... Einstein regarded his separation principle, descended from Schopenhauer's principium individuationis, as virtually an axiom for any future fundamental physics. ... Schopenhauer stressed the essential structuring role of space and time in individuating physical systems and their evolving states. This view implies that difference of location suffices to make two systems different in the sense that each has its own real physical state, independent of the state of the other. For Schopenhauer, the mutual independence of spatially separated systems was a necessary a priori truth.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Physics+Today&rft.atitle=Albert+Einstein+as+a+Philosopher+of+Science&rft.volume=58&rft.issue=12&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E34-%3C%2Fspan%3E40&rft.date=2005-12&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1063%2F1.2169442&rft_id=info%3Abibcode%2F2005PhT....58l..34H&rft.aulast=Howard&rft.aufirst=Don+A.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww3.nd.edu%2F~dhoward1%2Fvol58no12p34_40.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-102"><a href="#cite_ref-102">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFIsaacson2007" class="citation book cs1">Isaacson, Walter (2007). Einstein: His Life and Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 367. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0743264747" title="Special:BookSources/978-0743264747"><bdi>978-0743264747</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Einstein%3A+His+Life+and+Universe&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=367&rft.pub=Simon+%26+Schuster&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0743264747&rft.aulast=Isaacson&rft.aufirst=Walter&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-103"><a href="#cite_ref-103">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDon1997" class="citation book cs1">Don, Howard (1997). A Peek behind the Veil of Maya: Einstein, Schopenhauer, and the Historical Background of the Conception of Space as a Ground for the Individuation of Physical Systems. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 87.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+Peek+behind+the+Veil+of+Maya%3A+Einstein%2C+Schopenhauer%2C+and+the+Historical+Background+of+the+Conception+of+Space+as+a+Ground+for+the+Individuation+of+Physical+Systems&rft.pages=87&rft.pub=University+of+Pittsburgh+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.aulast=Don&rft.aufirst=Howard&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-104"><a href="#cite_ref-104">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFIsaacson2007" class="citation book cs1">Isaacson, Walter (2007). Einstein: His Life and Universe. p. 391.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Einstein%3A+His+Life+and+Universe&rft.pages=391&rft.date=2007&rft.aulast=Isaacson&rft.aufirst=Walter&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-105"><a href="#cite_ref-105">^</a> Einstein, Albert (1970). "Autobiographical Notes". In Schilpp, Paul Arthur (ed.). Albert-Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (Third edition ed.). Library of Living Philosophers 7. La Salle, Ill: Open Court. p. 11. </li> <li id="cite_note-106"><a href="#cite_ref-106">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTucci.1947" class="citation news cs1">Tucci., Nicolo (November 15, 1947). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210101135908/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1947/11/22/the-great-foreigner">"The Great Foreigner"</a>. New Yorker. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1947/11/22/the-great-foreigner">the original</a> on 2021-01-01.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=New+Yorker&rft.atitle=The+Great+Foreigner&rft.date=1947-11-15&rft.aulast=Tucci.&rft.aufirst=Nicolo&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F1947%2F11%2F22%2Fthe-great-foreigner&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AReligious+and+philosophical+views+of+Albert+Einstein" class="Z3988"> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a>]</div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.amazon.com/Reason-Life-Believed-Einstein-Dostoevsky/dp/1541263030/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543967257&sr=8-1&keywords=the+reason+for+life">The Reason for Life: What They Believe: Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Leo Tolstoy</a> - by Waltenegus Dargie</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/cosmic-religion-einstein.pdf">Einstein on Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Aphorisms</a> - by Albert Einstein</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPPnrDdNoUU&t=74m11s">The Genius of Einstein: The Science, His Brain, the Man</a> - World Science Festival</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7r57oCT2cU">Einstein's God</a> - talk by Walter Isaacson, <a href="/wiki/FORA.tv" class="mw-redirect" title="FORA.tv">FORA.tv</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://io9.com/5954119/einsteins-i-dont-believe-in-god-letter-has-sold-on-ebay--and-youre-not-going-to-believe-the-price">"Einstein's "I don't believe in God" letter has sold on eBay..."</a>, 23 October 2012</li> <li>Albert Einstein's "God Letter" fetches US $2,400,000 at Christie's New York auction house on 4 December 2018 <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-05/einstein-god-letter-fetches-3.9-million-at-new-york-auction/10584228">[3]</a></li></ul> <div style="clear:both;" class=""></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output 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href="/wiki/Template_talk:Albert_Einstein" title="Template talk:Albert Einstein"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Albert_Einstein" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Albert Einstein"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Albert_Einstein335" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein" title="Albert Einstein">Albert Einstein</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Physics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Theory_of_relativity" title="Theory of relativity">Theory of relativity</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Special_relativity" title="Special relativity">Special relativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/General_relativity" title="General relativity">General relativity</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence" title="Mass–energy equivalence">Mass–energy equivalence (E=mc2)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brownian_motion" title="Brownian motion">Brownian motion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Photoelectric_effect" title="Photoelectric effect">Photoelectric effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_coefficients" title="Einstein coefficients">Einstein coefficients</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_solid" title="Einstein solid">Einstein solid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Equivalence_principle" title="Equivalence principle">Equivalence principle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_field_equations" title="Einstein field equations">Einstein field equations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_radius" title="Einstein radius">Einstein radius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_relation_(kinetic_theory)" title="Einstein relation (kinetic theory)">Einstein relation (kinetic theory)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_ring" title="Einstein ring">Einstein ring</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cosmological_constant" title="Cosmological constant">Cosmological constant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate" title="Bose–Einstein condensate">Bose–Einstein condensate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_statistics" title="Bose–Einstein statistics">Bose–Einstein statistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_correlations" title="Bose–Einstein correlations">Bose–Einstein correlations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Cartan_theory" title="Einstein–Cartan theory">Einstein–Cartan theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Infeld%E2%80%93Hoffmann_equations" title="Einstein–Infeld–Hoffmann equations">Einstein–Infeld–Hoffmann equations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93de_Haas_effect" title="Einstein–de Haas effect">Einstein–de Haas effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/EPR_paradox" class="mw-redirect" title="EPR paradox">EPR paradox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bohr%E2%80%93Einstein_debates" title="Bohr–Einstein debates">Bohr–Einstein debates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teleparallelism" title="Teleparallelism">Teleparallelism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%27s_thought_experiments" title="Einstein's thought experiments">Thought experiments</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%27s_unsuccessful_investigations" title="Einstein's unsuccessful investigations">Unsuccessful investigations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" title="Wave–particle duality">Wave–particle duality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gravitational_wave" title="Gravitational wave">Gravitational wave</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tea_leaf_paradox" title="Tea leaf paradox">Tea leaf paradox</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_scientific_publications_by_Albert_Einstein" title="List of scientific publications by Albert Einstein">Works</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Annus_mirabilis_papers" title="Annus mirabilis papers">Annus mirabilis papers</a> (1905)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/%C3%9Cber_die_von_der_molekularkinetischen_Theorie_der_W%C3%A4rme_geforderte_Bewegung_von_in_ruhenden_Fl%C3%BCssigkeiten_suspendierten_Teilchen" title="Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen">Investigations on the Theory of Brownian Movement</a>" (1905)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Relativity:_The_Special_and_the_General_Theory" title="Relativity: The Special and the General Theory">Relativity: The Special and the General Theory</a> (1916)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Meaning_of_Relativity" title="The Meaning of Relativity">The Meaning of Relativity</a> (1922)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_World_as_I_See_It_(book)" title="The World as I See It (book)">The World as I See It</a> (1934)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Physics" title="The Evolution of Physics">The Evolution of Physics</a> (1938)</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Why_Socialism%3F" title="Why Socialism?">Why Socialism?</a>" (1949)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russell%E2%80%93Einstein_Manifesto" title="Russell–Einstein Manifesto">Russell–Einstein Manifesto</a> (1955)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_in_popular_culture" title="Albert Einstein in popular culture">In popular culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Die_Grundlagen_der_Einsteinschen_Relativit%C3%A4ts-Theorie" title="Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Relativitäts-Theorie">Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Relativitäts-Theorie</a> (1922 documentary)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Einstein_Theory_of_Relativity" title="The Einstein Theory of Relativity">The Einstein Theory of Relativity</a> (1923 documentary)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Relics:_Einstein%27s_Brain" title="Relics: Einstein's Brain">Relics: Einstein's Brain</a> (1994 documentary)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insignificance_(film)" title="Insignificance (film)">Insignificance</a> (1985 film)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Young_Einstein" title="Young Einstein">Young Einstein</a> (1988 film)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Picasso_at_the_Lapin_Agile" title="Picasso at the Lapin Agile">Picasso at the Lapin Agile</a> (1993 play)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/I.Q._(film)" title="I.Q. (film)">I.Q.</a> (1994 film)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%27s_Gift" title="Einstein's Gift">Einstein's Gift</a> (2003 play)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_and_Eddington" title="Einstein and Eddington">Einstein and Eddington</a> (2008 TV film)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genius_(American_TV_series)" title="Genius (American TV series)">Genius</a> (2017 series)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oppenheimer_(film)" title="Oppenheimer (film)">Oppenheimer</a> (2023 film)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Prizes</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Award" title="Albert Einstein Award">Albert Einstein Award</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Medal" title="Albert Einstein Medal">Albert Einstein Medal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kalinga_Prize" title="Kalinga Prize">Kalinga Prize</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Peace_Prize" title="Albert Einstein Peace Prize">Albert Einstein Peace Prize</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_World_Award_of_Science" title="Albert Einstein World Award of Science">Albert Einstein World Award of Science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_Prize_for_Laser_Science" title="Einstein Prize for Laser Science">Einstein Prize for Laser Science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_Prize_(APS)" title="Einstein Prize (APS)">Einstein Prize (APS)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Books about Einstein</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein:_Creator_and_Rebel" title="Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel">Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_and_Religion" title="Einstein and Religion">Einstein and Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_for_Beginners" title="Einstein for Beginners">Einstein for Beginners</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein:_His_Life_and_Universe" title="Einstein: His Life and Universe">Einstein: His Life and Universe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_in_Oxford" title="Einstein in Oxford">Einstein in Oxford</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_on_the_Run" title="Einstein on the Run">Einstein on the Run</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%27s_Cosmos" title="Einstein's Cosmos">Einstein's Cosmos</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/I_Am_Albert_Einstein" title="I Am Albert Einstein">I Am Albert Einstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Introducing_Relativity" title="Introducing Relativity">Introducing Relativity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subtle_is_the_Lord" title="Subtle is the Lord">Subtle is the Lord</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Einstein_family" title="Einstein family">Family</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mileva_Mari%C4%87" title="Mileva Marić">Mileva Marić</a> (first wife)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elsa_Einstein" title="Elsa Einstein">Elsa Einstein</a> (second wife; cousin)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lieserl_Einstein" class="mw-redirect" title="Lieserl Einstein">Lieserl Einstein</a> (daughter)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hans_Albert_Einstein" title="Hans Albert Einstein">Hans Albert Einstein</a> (son)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pauline_Koch" class="mw-redirect" title="Pauline Koch">Pauline Koch</a> (mother)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hermann_Einstein" class="mw-redirect" title="Hermann Einstein">Hermann Einstein</a> (father)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maja_Einstein" title="Maja Einstein">Maja Einstein</a> (sister)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_family#Eduard_"Tete"_Einstein_(Albert's_second_son)" title="Einstein family">Eduard Einstein</a> (son)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Murder_of_the_family_of_Robert_Einstein" title="Murder of the family of Robert Einstein">Robert Einstein</a> (cousin)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernhard_Caesar_Einstein" title="Bernhard Caesar Einstein">Bernhard Caesar Einstein</a> (grandson)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evelyn_Einstein" title="Evelyn Einstein">Evelyn Einstein</a> (granddaughter)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Martin_Einstein" class="mw-redirect" title="Thomas Martin Einstein">Thomas Martin Einstein</a> (great-grandson)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siegbert_Einstein" title="Siegbert Einstein">Siegbert Einstein</a> (distant cousin)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_awards_and_honors_received_by_Albert_Einstein" title="List of awards and honors received by Albert Einstein">Awards and honors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brain_of_Albert_Einstein" title="Brain of Albert Einstein">Brain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_House" title="Albert Einstein House">House</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Memorial" title="Albert Einstein Memorial">Memorial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_views_of_Albert_Einstein" title="Political views of Albert Einstein">Political views</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Religious views</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_things_named_after_Albert_Einstein" title="List of things named after Albert Einstein">Things named after</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Oppenheimer_relationship" title="Einstein–Oppenheimer relationship">Einstein–Oppenheimer relationship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albert_Einstein_Archives" title="Albert Einstein Archives">Albert Einstein Archives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein%27s_Blackboard" title="Einstein's Blackboard">Einstein's Blackboard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_Papers_Project" title="Einstein Papers Project">Einstein Papers Project</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einstein_refrigerator" title="Einstein refrigerator">Einstein refrigerator</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einsteinhaus" title="Einsteinhaus">Einsteinhaus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Einsteinium" title="Einsteinium">Einsteinium</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Max_Talmey" title="Max Talmey">Max Talmey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emergency_Committee_of_Atomic_Scientists" title="Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists">Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /> <a href="/wiki/Category:Albert_Einstein" title="Category:Albert Einstein">Category</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; 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