Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)
Author of A History of Western Philosophy
About the Author
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic. He was best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. Together with G.E. Moore, Russell is generally recognized as one of the main founders of modern analytic show more philosophy. Together with Kurt Gödel, he is regularly credited with being one of the most important logicians of the twentieth century. Over the course of a long career, Russell also made contributions to a broad range of subjects, including the history of ideas, ethics, political and educational theory, and religious studies. General readers have benefited from his many popular writings on a wide variety of topics. After a life marked by controversy--including dismissals from both Trinity College, Cambridge, and City College, New York--Russell was awarded the Order of Merit in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Noted also for his many spirited anti-nuclear protests and for his campaign against western involvement in the Vietnam War, Russell remained a prominent public figure until his death at the age of 97. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Bertrand Russell
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (1957) 4,453 copies, 42 reviews
The Born-Einstein Letters : Correspondence between Albert Einstein and Max and Hedwig Born from 1916 to 1955 with Commentaries by Max Born (1969) 122 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 7: Theory of Knowledge. The 1913 Manuscript (1984) 72 copies
Dear Bertrand Russell: Selection of His Correspondence with the General Public, 1950-68 (1969) 52 copies
Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell: A Lifelong Fight for Peace, Justice, and Truth in Letters to the Editor (2001) 25 copies
The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Volume 2: The Public Years 1914-1970 (Vol 2) (2001) 16 copies
Amberley Papers, The: Bertrand Russell's Family Background, Volumes One and Two (1966) — Editor — 9 copies
Os Pensadores: Russell 8 copies
Le opere: da: L’autobiografia di Bertrand Russell, Panorama scientifico, da: L’età atomica, da: Satana nei sobborghi e altri racconti (1979) 6 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 8: The Philosophy of Logical Atomism and Other Essays, 1914-19 (1986) 6 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 9: Essays on Language, Mind and Matter, 1919-26 (1988) 5 copies
Analisis filosofico / Philosophical Analysis (Pensamiento Contemporaneo (Ediciones Paidos)) (Spanish Edition) (1999) 5 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 12: Contemplation and Action, 1902-14 (1985) 5 copies
Atheism; Collected Essays, 1943-1949.: Collected Essays, 1943-1949 (The Atheist Viewpoint) (1976) 5 copies
Historia social de la Cultura. 4 copies
Dúvidas filosóficas 4 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 5: Toward Principia Mathematica, 1905-08 (2014) 4 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 29: Détente or Destruction, 1955-57 (2005) 4 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 3: Towards the "Principals of Mathematics", 1900 - 02 (1993) 4 copies
Sententies 4 copies
Why I Am Not a Christian and What I Believe (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) (2023) 3 copies, 1 review
The Value of Free Thought: How to Become a Truth-Seeker and Break the Chains of Mental Slavery (1944) 3 copies
Idéaux politiques. Présentation et traduction de Normand Baillargeon et Chantal Santerre (2016) 3 copies
Bertrand Russell 3 em 1. No que Acredito. Por que Nao sou Cristao e Ensaios Ceticos (Em Portugues do Brasil) (2019) 3 copies
Três Causas de Infelicidade 2 copies
Elämäni 2 copies
O Poder Nú 2 copies
Die Zukunft des Pazifismus 2 copies
Bertrand Russell på nært hold 2 copies
Análisis del espíritu 2 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 11: Last Philosophical Testament 1947-68 (1997) 2 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 15: Uncertain Paths to Freedom: Russia and China 1919-1922 (2000) 2 copies
Diccionario del hombre contemporaneo 2 copies
Dare we look ahead? 2 copies
Physics & Experience 2 copies
The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 14: Pacifism and Revolution, 1916-18 (1995) 2 copies
Il terribile giuramento della signorina X e le altre storie di incubi, misteri, stravaganze 2 copies
Divorce, as I see it 2 copies
La educación y el mundo moderno 2 copies
Frihet og fornuft : essays 2 copies
Contos 2 copies
lettera ai potenti della terra 2 copies
Da educação 2 copies
The Collected Works of Bertrand Russell: The Complete Works PergamonMedia (Highlights of World Literature) (2015) 2 copies
Bertrand Russel Otobiyografi 1 copy
The Wisdom Of The West 1 copy
Ἱστορία τῆς δυτικῆς φιλοσοφίας καί ἡ συνάρτησή της μέ τίς πολιτικές καί κοινωνικές συνθῆκες… (2003) 1 copy
Warum ich kein Christ bin. 1 copy
A perspectiva cient©Ưfica 1 copy
Problémy filozofie 1 copy
LA SABIDURÍA DE OCCIDENTE. Visión histórica de la filosofía occidental. (Spanish Edition) (1964) 1 copy
Da educação 1 copy
EL PRISIONERO DE LA VERDAD 1 copy
The Functions of a Teacher 1 copy
Opere 1 copy
Why Communism Must Fall 1 copy
os pensadores Russell 1 copy
PROBLEMET E FILOZOFISË 1 copy
NJË PËRVIJIM I FILOZOFISË 1 copy
a filosofia de leibniz 1 copy
ENSAYOS POPULARES 1 copy
HOMBRE Y SUPERHOMBRE 1 copy
Russel dice la Sua. 1 copy
HIl Iterribile giuramento della signorina X e le altre storie di incubi, misteri, stravaganze 1 copy
Of Meaning and Truth 1 copy
Religiao e Ciencia 1 copy
The ABC of Atoms 1 copy
Vesrens Visdom 1 copy
Il mio pensiero 7-12-2 1 copy
Den nya filosofien 1 copy
Russell Bertrand 1 copy
Jostarha ye Falsafi 1 copy
On Peace 1 copy
Menneskelykke 1 copy
Individual pacifism 1 copy
How to be free and happy 1 copy
I pricipi della matematica 1 copy
Debate, Resolved: That the Soviet Form of Government Is Applicable to Western Civilization (2011) 1 copy
History as an art 1 copy
all 1 copy
Bertrand Russell 1 copy
En samtale om Guds eksistens 1 copy
Bertrand Russell Compilation 1 copy
What is the soul? 1 copy
John Stuart Mill 1 copy
Memoarer. I, 1872-1914 1 copy
Vieja y nueva moral sexual 1 copy
EL PANORAMA CIENTÍFICO 1 copy
Antología. 1 copy
Retratos de memoria 1 copy
În căutare fericirii 1 copy
Credințele mele 1 copy
Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Volume 26 (The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell) (2020) 1 copy
Linguaggio E Realta' 1 copy
Felsefe meseleleri 1 copy
Obras selectas 1 copy
Sosyalizm 1 copy
Din ve Bilim 1 copy
Kursbuch 1 copy
russel in due parole 1 copy
Idealurile politice. Puterea 1 copy
Associated Works
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) — Introduction, some editions; Foreword, some editions — 4,734 copies, 53 reviews
Devils & Demons: A Treasury of Fiendish Tales Old & New (1991) — Contributor — 288 copies, 2 reviews
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature (1999) — Contributor — 202 copies, 2 reviews
Gentlemen, Scholars and Scoundrels: A Treasury of the Best of Harper's Magazine from 1850 to the Present (1972) — Contributor — 62 copies
Great companions : critical memoirs of some famous friends (2007) — Contributor — 25 copies, 1 review
Democracy in Print: The best of the Progressive Magazine, 1909-2009 (2009) — Contributor — 14 copies
We Accuse: A Powerful Statement of the New Political Anger in America (1965) — Contributor — 8 copies
Napalm — Author — 6 copies
High Moment: Stories of Supreme Crises in the Lives of Great Men — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Russell, Bertrand
- Legal name
- Russell, Bertrand Arthur William, 3rd Earl
- Other names
- Bertie
RUSSELL, Bertrand Arthur William
RUSSELL, Bertrand - Birthdate
- 1872-05-18
- Date of death
- 1970-02-02
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Trinity College, Cambridge (BA|1893)
- Occupations
- philosopher
mathematician
professor - Organizations
- Trinity College, Cambridge
Aristotelian Society (President)
Cambridge Apostles
Royal Society (1908) - Awards and honors
- Fellow of the Royal Society (1908)
Nobel Prize (Literature, 1950)
Sylvester Medal (1934)
De Morgan Medal (1932)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (1951)
Fellow of Trinity College (1944) (show all 12)
BBC Reith Lecturer (1948)
Order of Merit (1949)
Hereditary Peerage (1931)
Jerusalem Prize (1963)
Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science (1957)
Judicially pronounced unworthy to be Professor of Philosophy at the College of the City of New York (1940) - Agent
- Julie Medlock
Anton Felton - Relationships
- Russell, Dora (2nd wife, divorced)
Finch, Edith (4th wife)
Russell, Conrad (son)
von Arnim, Elizabeth (sister-in-law)
Russell, Lord John (grandfather)
Mill, John Stuart (godfather) (show all 8)
Amberley, John Russell (father)
Tait, Katharine (daughter) - Cause of death
- influenza
- Nationality
- UK (Birth)
- Birthplace
- Ravenscroft, Trellich, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
- Places of residence
- Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Trelleck, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
Peking, China
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
New York, New York, USA (show all 8)
Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, Wales, UK
Garsington Manor, Oxfordshire, England, UK - Place of death
- Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd, Wales, UK
- Burial location
- Colwyn Bay, Conwy County, Wales, UK (cremated)
- Map Location
- Wales, UK
Members
Discussions
Bertrand Russell in Philosophy and Theory (May 2016)
Reviews
Not the best Russell I've read. The writing is good, and he has a way with a statement that perfectly encapsulates an idea, but the ideas in this one often sound naive, and maybe a little anarchist. The essay on education seems to presage the current trend in ridiculous pedagogy, which is leaving us with graduates who can barely read and cannot write a coherent sentence. Honestly, I understand that he didn't like Latin lessons; that doesn't mean we should turn education over to those who do show more the opposite of educating. His political ideas were at times naive and other times prescient; one could be forgiven for thinking his crystal ball led him to forewarn us of Donald Trump. Of course, it was just the ability to see where trends were heading, even then. Some of the trends began heading the other way, but over the course of a hundred years, swung back toward the way he predicted. So it was a mixed bag, as essay collections often are (even when written by Bertrand Russell). show less
In Praise of Idleness: The Classic Essay with a New Introduction by Bradley Trevor Greive by Bertrand Russell
I love simplified philosophy: something my simple brain can chew on and possibly grow from. This book is a perfect example: a mix of Russell's wisdom with Grieve's humour and synthesis. Not only did I have something to ponder, did I learn and did I laugh but also shared for a few hours Russell's boundless optimism and endless curiosity. It's a fine thing to share in dark times and a reminder to take the time to look at the world with wonder.
This review is two-fold.
The book as product is simply gorgeous. 5 stars review if evere there were any for audiobooks' quality. Audio is perfect; graphic design of the cover is elegant and accurate; the narrator impersonates the very core or Russell's witty but serious personality, even conveying the author's respect or contempt for a philosopher through the tone of voice used during quotations of direct passages.
This last peculiarity of the book as a product opens to the principal show more characetristic of the book as a piece of thought. The title of this work is deceiving. What Russell wrote is not a HISTORY, but a CRITIQUE of Western philosophy, conceived by the point of view of the school of thought of which he was part, analytic empiricism. The work has been defined biased, first of all by Russell himself who advocated for intellectual honesty and considered calls for impartiality, in matters such as view of the worls of the basis of ethics, as contradictory and dangerously deceptive. I agree so much with his opinions in this regard, that I will go as far as saying that it is not bias what is regularly, coherently and openly stated as the view of the writer.
And believe me, you can tell Russell's views from one mile away! He demolishes Plato, Romanticism, Nietzsche, Schopenauer, Fichte and Bergson, to name some. There is a plan in this critique, and it becomes clear in the last few chapters, when he explains how, in his opinions, analytica philosophy solves the internal inconsistency of all the past philosophical schools and thinkers that tried to explain existence, and provide ethical guidance, in one great system based on metaphisics. In my opinion, recognising this feature of the work answers to the critiques about the unbalance between the stance taken in the three historical periods in which he divides the History of Philosophy: classical times, Middle Ages and modernity. I will not go into details, as many reviewers with a better historical and philosophical culture than mine have already written about the question. There is a lot of imprecision and too much generalisation, in my opinion, in delineating historical frameworks and in judging the Scholastic school, for example. Well, that was the state of the art regarding Medieval thought, at Russell's time, and anyway I forgive him all his flaws because I share much of his bias, except that I am an unrepented Marxist of Maoist tendencies... What I love in Russell is his honesty, his human empathy, his concern for the irrationalistic tendency and for the despise of patient analysis that characterised his times: keep in mind that he wrote during WWII. Not that OUR times are much more promising.
Whether you think he was right or not, this book makes for an enthralling listening (or reading) and still constitutes a classic of popularisation. Well, half-way popularisation; if you have no clue of what Western philosophy is, I would give advice for other books as a first general recognition.
Then, when you feel ready, come back and read this book. show less
The book as product is simply gorgeous. 5 stars review if evere there were any for audiobooks' quality. Audio is perfect; graphic design of the cover is elegant and accurate; the narrator impersonates the very core or Russell's witty but serious personality, even conveying the author's respect or contempt for a philosopher through the tone of voice used during quotations of direct passages.
This last peculiarity of the book as a product opens to the principal show more characetristic of the book as a piece of thought. The title of this work is deceiving. What Russell wrote is not a HISTORY, but a CRITIQUE of Western philosophy, conceived by the point of view of the school of thought of which he was part, analytic empiricism. The work has been defined biased, first of all by Russell himself who advocated for intellectual honesty and considered calls for impartiality, in matters such as view of the worls of the basis of ethics, as contradictory and dangerously deceptive. I agree so much with his opinions in this regard, that I will go as far as saying that it is not bias what is regularly, coherently and openly stated as the view of the writer.
And believe me, you can tell Russell's views from one mile away! He demolishes Plato, Romanticism, Nietzsche, Schopenauer, Fichte and Bergson, to name some. There is a plan in this critique, and it becomes clear in the last few chapters, when he explains how, in his opinions, analytica philosophy solves the internal inconsistency of all the past philosophical schools and thinkers that tried to explain existence, and provide ethical guidance, in one great system based on metaphisics. In my opinion, recognising this feature of the work answers to the critiques about the unbalance between the stance taken in the three historical periods in which he divides the History of Philosophy: classical times, Middle Ages and modernity. I will not go into details, as many reviewers with a better historical and philosophical culture than mine have already written about the question. There is a lot of imprecision and too much generalisation, in my opinion, in delineating historical frameworks and in judging the Scholastic school, for example. Well, that was the state of the art regarding Medieval thought, at Russell's time, and anyway I forgive him all his flaws because I share much of his bias, except that I am an unrepented Marxist of Maoist tendencies... What I love in Russell is his honesty, his human empathy, his concern for the irrationalistic tendency and for the despise of patient analysis that characterised his times: keep in mind that he wrote during WWII. Not that OUR times are much more promising.
Whether you think he was right or not, this book makes for an enthralling listening (or reading) and still constitutes a classic of popularisation. Well, half-way popularisation; if you have no clue of what Western philosophy is, I would give advice for other books as a first general recognition.
Then, when you feel ready, come back and read this book. show less
The content in this collection of thoughtful essays is on average about a century old. Still, it contains a lot of what feels like relevant wisdom to our modern, distracted, complex world. Much of that sagacity is distilled in the first paragraphs of the preface:
I feel Russell would have had been disappointed with every media trend from the Television to Internet age:
I happen to be reading at the same time Robert Graves and considering his sacrificed sacred king model developed from James George Frazer and so this resonated with me in this concise and incisive commentary on the definition and state of modern civilisation:
This book contains essays on such aspects of social questions as tend to be ignored in the clash of politics. It emphasizes the dangers of too much organization in the realm of thought and too much strenuousness in action. ... Itshow more
maintains that the importance of knowledge consists not only in its direct practical utility but also in the fact that it promotes a widely contemplative habit of mind ; on this ground, utility is to be found in much of the knowledge that is nowadays labelled "useless."
...Passing further away from politics, the volume, after discussing the characteristics of Western civilization and the chances of the human race being vanquished by insects, concludes with a discussion of the nature of the soul. The general thesis which binds the essays together is that the world is suffering from intolerance and bigotry, and from the belief that vigorous action is admirable even when misguided ; whereas what is needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration, with readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse points of view.
I feel Russell would have had been disappointed with every media trend from the Television to Internet age:
The amusements of modern urban populations tend more and more to be passive and collective, and to consist of inactive observation of the skilled activities of others.
I happen to be reading at the same time Robert Graves and considering his sacrificed sacred king model developed from James George Frazer and so this resonated with me in this concise and incisive commentary on the definition and state of modern civilisation:
What do we, who stay at home, know about the savage?...show less
Sir James Fraser says he is always killing his god...
First of all, what is civilisation? Its first essential character, I should say, is forethought. This, indeed, is what mainly distinguishes men from brutes and adults from children. But forethought being a matter of degree, we can distinguish more or less civilised nations and epochs according to the amount of it that they display. And forethought is capable of almost precise measurement. I will not say that the average forethought of a community is inversely proportional to the rate of interest, though this is a view which might be upheld. But we can say that the degree of forethought involved in any act is measured by three factors; present pain, future pleasure, and the length of the interval between them. That is to say, the forethought is obtained by dividing the present pain by the future pleasure and then multiplying by the interval of time between them...
This brings me to another element which is essential to civilisation, namely knowledge. Forethought based upon superstition cannot count as fully civilised, although it may bring habits of mind essential to the growth of true civilisation. For instance, the Puritan habit of postponing pleasures to the next life undoubtedly facilitated the accumulation of capital required for industrialism. We may then define civilisation as: A manner of life due to the combination of knowledge and forethought.
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Statistics
- Works
- 419
- Also by
- 50
- Members
- 39,353
- Popularity
- #454
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 339
- ISBNs
- 1,916
- Languages
- 31
- Favorited
- 134
