Albert Einstein - a Pious Atheist

TL;DR

This paper explores Einstein's nuanced religious views, positioning him as a pantheist and agnostic influenced by Hellenic culture, and analyzes his socio-historical background to understand his stance.

Contribution

It provides a detailed socio-historical and philosophical analysis of Einstein's religious attitude, emphasizing his unique blend of pantheism and agnosticism rooted in Hellenic tradition.

Findings

Einstein's views align with pantheism and agnosticism.

His religious ideas are influenced by Philo of Alexandria and Greek philosophy.

His scientific and religious thinking are deeply rooted in Hellenic culture.

Abstract

We consider Einstein's attitude with regard to religion both from sociological and epistemological points of view. An attempt to put it into a wider socio-historical perspective has been made, with the emphasis on his ethnic and religious background. The great scientist was neither anatheist nor a believer in the orthodox sense and the closest labels one might apply would be pantheism/cosmism (ontological view) and agnosticism (epistemological view). His ideas on the divine could be considered as a continuation of a line that can be traced back to Philo of Alexandria, who himself followed the Greek Stoics and Neoplatonists and especially Baruch Spinoza. Einstein's scientific (or rational) and religious (or intuitive) thinking was deeply rooted in the Hellenic culture.