What is Enlightenment?
A
person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the
best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires
and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to which he clings
because of their superpersonal value. It seems to me that what is important is
the force of this superpersonal content and the depth of the conviction
concerning its overpowering meaningfulness, regardless of whether any attempt
is made to unite this content with a divine Being, for otherwise it would not
be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities.
Accordingly, a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of
the significance and loftiness of those superpersonal objects and goals which
neither require nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist with the
same necessity and matter-of-factness as he himself. In this sense religion is
the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of
these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If
one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a
conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what
is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all
kinds remain necessary.
Albert Einstein, in Science, Philosophy and
Religion, A Symposium, published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and
Religion in Their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York
(1941); later published in Out of My Later Years (1950)
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