The Kantian Grounding of Einstein’s Worldview

Abstract

Recent perspectival interpretations of Kant suggest a way of relating his epistemology to empirical science that makes it plausible to regard Einstein's theory of relativity as having a Kantian grounding. This first of two articles exploring this topic focuses on how the foregoing hypothesis accounts for various resonances between Kant's philosophy and Einstein's science. The great attention young Einstein paid to Kant in his early intellectual development demonstrates the plausibility of this hypothesis, while certain features of Einstein's cultural-political context account for his reluctance to acknowledge Kant's influence, even though contemporary philosophers who regarded themselves as Kantians urged him to do so. The sequel argues that this Kantian grounding probably had a formative influence not only on Einstein's discovery of the theory of relativity and his view of the nature of science, but also on his quasi-mystical, religious disposition. 1. Kant's System of Perspectives as the Grounding for Modern Scientific Revolutions In the course of defending Albert Einstein's revolutionary approach to physics, and perhaps also as an implicit affirmation of Einstein's religious worldview, Sir Arthur Eddington boldly asserted: There are things in the world but you must look deeply for them (Eddington, 1928/1935, p. 34). What are these absolute things, in terms of Einstein's theory of relativity? Are they explicable or necessarily mysterious? Moreover, what led young Einstein to his revolutionary convictions regarding these that govern the natural world? The suggestion that Einstein's worldview was essentially Kantian might seem unwarranted for two reasons. First, Kant is often regarded more as an enemy of the metaphysical belief in deep absolutes and of quasi-religious appeals to mystery (whether physical or theological) than as a philosopher who might engender such convictions. Second, Einstein himself tended to downplay Kant's relevance to his own thinking; if some of the deepest convictions informing his worldview appear to be grounded in Kant's philosophy, we must explain why Einstein did not