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Lot 57

EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955.
Autograph Letter Signed ("A. Einstein"), in German, 1 p, 4to,

21 September 2015, 13:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$10,625 inc. premium

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EINSTEIN, ALBERT. 1879-1955.

Autograph Letter Signed ("A. Einstein"), in German, 1 p, 4to, [Berlin], June 30, 1920, to Hans Reichenbach, uneven toning, a few spots in upper margin, two-hole punch at left margin, folding creases.

"CONCEPTS ARE SIMPLY EMPTY WHEN THEY STOP BEING FIRMLY LINKED TO EXPERIENCES." EINSTEIN ON THE VALUE OF RELATIVITY FOR PHILOSOPHY. Einstein writes to Hans Reichenbach, the philosopher of science and an influential expositor of Relativity. In part (translation):
"I am really very pleased that you want to dedicate your excellent brochure to me, but even more so that you give me such high marks as a lecturer and thinker. The value of the th.[eory] of rel.[ativity] for philosophy seems to me to be that it exposed the dubiousness of certain concepts that even in philosophy were recognized as small change. Concepts are simply empty when they stop being firmly linked to experiences. They resemble upstarts who are ashamed of their origins and want to disown them." The letter was published in the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, vol 10, doc 66, pp 323-324 (CPAE Translation, vol 10, doc 66, p 201).
We are grateful for the assistance of Dr. Diana Kormos Buchwald, general editor of the Einstein Papers Project, in cataloguing this lot.

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