Spinoza, Einstein a fyzika ako "scientia intuitiva"

• Authors: Michaela Petrufová Joppová

Title variants

EN

Spinoza, Einstein, and physics as “Scientia Intuitiva”

• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

Einstein’s statements expressing his admiration for Spinoza are well known and have led some commentators to attempt to identify their theoretical parallels and to seek to answer the question of whether Spinoza’s philosophy had, to any extent, an influence on Einstein’s thinking and theory. The answers typically settle on determinism, realism, and intellectualism as rationalist shared moments of the two rationalist thinkers. The study presented here accepts these conclusions as initial assumptions and focuses instead on a closer examination of the “rationalist” method that both thinkers considered to be highly scientific and which they were not only able to formally articulate, but also to precisely apply in their own thought processes. The study thus aims to demonstrate that it is precisely this method, primarily consisting of intuitive deduction and an adequate definition of the objects of investigation, that unites both thinkers, and that it is also extremely likely that Einstein’s rejection of the interpretations of quantum theory at that time was also due to his devotion to this “intuitive physics.”

Keywords

EN

Baruch Spinoza; Albert Einstein; model of reality; perception; intellect; physical theory; “scientia intuitiva”

Discipline

• PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Filosofický časopis (Philosophical Journal)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 207-222
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Michaela  Petrufová Joppová

• Filosofický časopis, redakce, Filosofický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Jilská 1, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic