Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Einstein Answers to the Enemy

In September of 1952, Einstein received a letter from Katusu Hara, editor of the Japanese magazine Kaizo, with four different questions begging to be answered (with an added sidenote that if "no replies are received...this fact will be duly published in the magazine") dealing with the impact that the atomic bomb had on Japanese society since its double use in 1945, particularly with the morality of such an act. Einstein responded with an apologetic yet imperative response, stating that while the advent of the atomic bomb leaves the world in "dreadful danger", as long as nations are unwilling to abolish war and solve their conflicts peacefully, similar developments are inevitable. He ends his response looking to Gandhi, citing him as an example of how human conviction IS capable of overcoming material power.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/peace/popups/large_fromhara.php?image=1
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/peace/popups/large_tohara.php?image=1

1 comment:

  1. I found these letters very interesting. As a pacifist, it seems hypocritical for Einstein to have signed a letter in support of testing the bomb, but I think that Einstein seems to understand that the situation was way too complex to be put in terms of simple ideologies. The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to a situation in which large scale global wars seemed less likely to occur, but the tensions which lead up to such wars greatly increased. The presence of the atomic bomb seems to make it less likely that Gandhi's tactics would work in the real world, as no one country is willing to give up the military security that the bomb provides, which I think is partly Einstein's point.

    ReplyDelete