Albert Einstein, world-renowned as a physicist, was also publicly
committed to radical political views. Despite the vast literature on
Einstein, Einstein and Twentieth- Century Politics is the first
comprehensive study of his politics, covering his opinions and
campaigns on pacifism, Zionism, control of nuclear weapons, world
government, freedom, and racial equality. Most studies look at
Einstein in isolation but here he is viewed alongside a 'liberal
international' of global intellectuals, including Gandhi, Albert
Schweitzer, Bertrand Russell, H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Romain
Rolland, Thomas Mann, and John Dewey. Frequently called upon to join
campaigns on great issues of war, peace, and social values, they all
knew or corresponded with Einstein. This volume examines how Einstein
and comparable intellectuals sought to exert a 'salutary influence',
as Einstein put it in a letter to Freud. Close attention is given to
the unique qualities Einstein brought to his interventions in
political debate. His influence derived in the first instance from his
celebrity status as the scientist of genius whose theory of relativity
was both incomprehensible to most and seemingly relevant to many
aspects of aspects of culture and the cosmos. Einstein's complex and
enigmatic personality, which combined intense devotion to privacy and
a capacity to perform on the public stage, also contributed to the
Einstein myth. Studying Einstein's politics, it is argued here, takes
us not only into the mind of Einstein but to the heart of the great
public issues of the twentieth century.
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'A Salutary Moral Influence'
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191088308
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter