EINSTEIN TALKS'

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1061, 27 August 1930, Page 10

EINSTEIN TALKS'

RELIGION AND SCIENCE REMARKABLE CONVERSATION A remarkable conversation is r . corded in the American magazine Tlie Forum.” between Albert Ein stein, author of the “Theory 0 , I Relativity,” James Murphv, i r j ß |: writer, lecturer, and conversationalist. and J. W. N. Sullivan, mathe nratician. author of many bdol« on science, at Einstein's home i n Berlin. We quote some of ththings said by Einstein in t„<. i course of the talk. ‘ Speaking cf tlie spirit that informs i modern scientific investigations, I ai j of the opinion that all the finer spe, D . lations in the realm of science sprint from a deep religious feeling, and that without such feeling they would Kobe fruitful. I also believe that ty, kind of religiousness which makes h 1 self felt today Is scientific investiga- ! tion is the only creative religious activity of our time. The art of todav caj hardly be looked upon at all as expres \ sive of our religious instincts.” “A practical philosophy would mean a philosophy of conduct. And I not think that science can teach m en to be moral. I do not believe that a moral philosophy can ever be founded on a scientific basis. You could not, tor Instance, teach men to face death tomorrow in defence of scientific truth Science has no power of that type over I the human spirit. 1 "The valuation of life and all its nobler expressions can only come nut ! of the soul's yearning toward its owi destiny. Every attempt to reduu | ethics to scientific formulas must fan” ! Of that I am perfectly convinced. Oo i the other hand, it is undoubtedly true i that scientific study of the higho

kinds and general interest in scienu- . fie theory have great, value in leading ' men toward a worthier valuation o; the things of the spirit. But the cot. tent of scientific theory itself offers no moral foundation for the personal coiduct of life. ‘T think that this extraordinary I terest which the general public take ; in science today, and the place of hiik | importance which it holds in peoples minds, is one of the strongest signs of the metaphysical needs of our finis. It shows that people have grown find ! of materialism, in the popular seta i of the term; it shows that they find life empty and that they are looking toward something beyond mere personal interests. This popular interest in scientific theory brings into play the higher spiritual faculties, and atything that does so must be of kigi importance in the moral betterment o( humanity.”

“The intuitive and constructive spiritual taculties must come into play wherever a body of scientifc truth is concerned. A body of scientific truth may be built up with the stone and mortar of its own teachings. logically arranged. But to build it up and to understand it you must bring into play the constructive faculties of the artist. No house can be built wfith stone and mortar alone. “Personally X find it of the highest importance to bring all the various faculties of the understanding into cooperation. By this I mean that nur moral leanings and tastes, our sense of beauty and religious instincts, arc all tributary forces in helping the reasoning faculty toward its nighest achievements. It is here that the moral side of our nature comes inthat mysterious inner consecration which Spinoza so often emphasised under the name of amor intellectual!

“With me, the sense of beauty in Nature and ail my artistic leanings have developed hand in hand with the pursuit of science. And I believe that, without that one the other is not possible. Certainly in the case of all the really productive minds that I knojr of. the one has been united with the other. The artistic talents of the men I am thinking of may nc: always have been consciously deve.oped or formally employed; but these talents or tastes have always been active in giving urge and direction to the scientific mind.”

! “The pathos of distance can be expressed when the mind follows the fast flight of an airplane or the swit. ocean liner, or when one iliinks ot tn; conquering of distance through t radio. The immediate contemplation of these facts has much the same effect on the mind as the ts. pointing spires of the cathedrals, ad-. I it is true that modern science doe= ! supply the mind with an object tor ! contemplative exaltation. "Mankind must exalt Itse “; , Sursum corda is always its c • Every cultural striving, whether it be religious or scientific, touches core of the inner psyche and aims .o freedom from the Ego—not the dividual Ega alone, but also the ma^ Ego of humanity. Expression here will always mean exaltation. 8? d striving is not confined to Baroq - mankind alone; it was also ,d " Greeks, and it has been in every •- of mankind that we know of.