Kurt Godel (1906 - 1978) is mostly known for his work in logic and mathematics and especially for his famous incompleteness theorems. In this post, I am going to talk about other things and in particular how he is a good example of the individual path to religion. As far as I know Godel was not a Christian or at least I know of no statement that he was one. Godel was baptized a Lutheran but grew up in a secular household. However, he was certainly a theist, believing in a personal God, and seems to have come to this belief purely by reading and thinking. So, following Bruce Charlton's notion of the Romantic Christian, I would term Kurt Godel a Romantic Theist.
There is a good quote from the Encyclopaedia Britannica's entry on Godel which gives a good background:
"During that period, Vienna was one of the intellectual hubs of the world. It was home to the famed Vienna Circle, a group of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers who endorsed the naturalistic, strongly empiricist and antimetaphysical view known as logical positivism. Godel's dissertation adviser, Hans Hahn, was one of the founders of the Vienna Circle and he introduced his star student to the group. However, Godel's own philosophical views could not have been more different from those of the positivists. He subscribed to Platonism, theism, and mind-body dualism."
During the 1940's and 1950's, Kurt Godel worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and was good friends with Albert Einstein. Einstein had told a friend that when he [Einstein] was younger he was unsure whether to go into mathematics or physics. But Einstein thought that in mathematics there were so many problems that it was easy to get lost in them, while in physics it was clear what the big problems were. However, when he met Godel, he met someone who had solved a clear, big problem in mathematics. Einstein and Godel discussed many topics in philosophy, religion, and politics, although they often disagreed with each other. Godel was politically conservative and even something of a conspiracy theorist in that he looked for hidden meanings behind political events.
For example, Godel wrote in a letter to his mother in 1947:
"If one looks more closely at the circumstances [of Franklin Roosevelt’s death], one cannot help feeling that some undeclared secret lies behind it. ... Even if his death really resulted from natural causes, the impression remains as if a secret power had objected to his further plans and declared: 'up to here and no farther' "
and also to his mother in 1953:
"It is interesting that within the course of half a year both of Eisenhower’s principal opponents died (Stalin outside the U.S., Taft within). I think such a thing has never happened hitherto. The probability of it is 1:2000."
Einstein had differing political views and was a pantheist rather than a theist. Einstein wrote in 1929 to an enquirer about his religious beliefs:
"I believe in Spinoza’s god, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of
the world, not in a god who concerns himself with the fate and the
doings of mankind."
On the other hand, Godel said:
"I went home with Einstein almost every day and talked about philosophy, politics, and the conditions of America. Einstein was democratically inclined. His religion is much more abstract, like that of Spinoza and Indian philosophy. Mine is more similar to church religion. Spinoza's God is less than a person. Mine is more than a person, because God can't be less than a person. He can play the role of a person."
So, one reason that that Godel and Einstein were friends is because each found the other to be a person of comparable intelligence. I suspect another reason is that because of his reputation many people probably deferred to Einstein even if they believed he was completely wrong. I think Einstein must have become tired of this after a while and found it refreshing that Godel would tell Einstein if he believed his opinions to be completely off-base.
Also interesting is the story of Godel's American citizenship hearing. Godel was scheduled to become an American citizen in 1947 and because he wanted to be well-prepared, he undertook an extensive program of study. Godel studied the history of the United States and the Native American tribes, the working of the local government of Princeton, New Jersey and other such matters, in detail.
Another one of Godel's friends at the Institute, Oskar Morgenstern told Godel that he need not bother and that he would only be asked routine questions. But, Godel remained unconvinced. Godel then began studying the U.S. Constitution in detail and told Morgenstern that he had found a contradiction that would allow the United States to legally be turned into a dictatorship. Morgenstern told Einstein and both worried that if Godel brought this up at his hearing this would jeopardize Godel's chances for citizenship.
So, on the day of the hearing, Einstein tried to distract Godel by asking,
"Now, Godel are you really well-prepared for this examination?" and then proceeded to talk about a book he had read on Russian history and Russia adopting the Orthodox church. However, it was to no avail. When Einstein, Morgenstern, and Godel went before the judge for the hearing, the following exchange took place:
"Now, Mr. Godel, where do you come from?"
"Where I come from? Austria"
"What kind of government did you have in Austria?"
"It was a republic, but the constitution was such that it finally was changed into a dictatorship."
"Oh! This is very bad. This could not happen in this country."
"Oh, yes, I can prove it."
The judge was a friend of Einstein's and since Morgenstern and Einstein had both vouched for Godel, the judge decided not to go down that rabbit hole and broke off the citizenship examination at that point. For a while, some considered this story to be apocryphal, but Morgenstern typed up a few page memoir of the event, from which this dialogue is taken. However, Morgenstern did not say what the contradiction was and John Dawson, Godel's biographer, has even searched through Godel's notebooks but has not found anything. So, the contradiction that Godel believed would allow the United States to be changed into a dictatorship is now lost to history.
Also, towards the end of his life, Einstein told Morgenstern that Einstein believed his own work was not worth much anymore, but he continued to go to the Institute so that he could enjoy walking home with Godel.
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