It has often been said, and certainly not without justification, that the man of science is a poor philosopher. Why, then, should it not be the right thing for the physicist to let the philosopher do the philosophizing? Such might indeed be the right thing at a time when the physicist believes he has at his disposal a rigid system of fundamental concepts and fundamental laws which are so well established that waves of doubt cannot reach them; but, it cannot be right at a time when the very foundations of physics itself have become problematic as they are now.
However, this is an example of denying the antecedent: "If physicists have an indubitable system of fundamental concepts and laws, then it might be right to let philosophers handle philosophical issues. But physicists do not have such a system, ergo, physicists cannot leave philosophy to philosophers." The argument is weak. After all, if physicists can't keep physics well-established, why spread their confusion to the muddier disciplines? I would be tempted to say that a great scientist beginning a philosophical discussion with a simple logical fallacy is evidence that physicists should stay out of philosophy—except that plenty of well-known philosophers make the same logical blunders themselves. (Perhaps this is a sign that no one should do philosophy?)
(I should add in seriousness that Einstein held intriguing and considered philosophical views, as this article shows.)
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mechanics that were still in the process of being discovered. Therefore, almost everybody who was not directly participating in the scientific discoveries was so dominantly influenced by their "knowledge" of wrong facts - facts that the discoveries of the
time were refuting - that they were almost certain to be prejudiced in their ideas about reality, and likely too prejudiced to contribute positively to understanding of reality. (Of course, even the discoverers, including Einstein, often couldn't shed their
prejudices, but they were at least exposed to the new facts all the time.) While physicists like Einstein, Bohr or Heisenberg usually didn't produce high-quality philosophy, they were at least able to talk about the world without making elementary errors of
fact. That was a major temporary advantage over everyone else, including philosophers.
post, I have great respect for Einstein's occasional philosophical forays. The too-common tendency among physicists since (even among great ones) to show blanket contempt toward philosophy is, I think, detrimental to all.
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