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Bertrand Russell was regarded as one of the twentieth century’s greatest minds. Well known for his profound knowledge and controversial approach to a myriad of different issues and subjects, his prolific works also exhibited great intellectual wit and humour. Bertrand Russell’s Best is a collection of Russell’s wittiest and most pungent writings. First published in 1958, this delightfully funny and entertaining book is a striking testament to the remarkable life, work and wit of Bertrand Russell.

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Russell examines the foundations of knowledge through a discussion of language and investigates the way a knowledge of the structure of language helps our understanding of the structure of the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A book that give you skills
Russell's An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth is a well-written book with extra in-depth details and careful examining.
This book exposes reader to a wide array of topics, which most of the time found going together, which are epistemology, philosophy of language, logic, and a hint of metaphysics.
So if the reader is not a philosophy student, s/he can still read this book to gain intermediate knowledge of philosophy of language, given that s/he has already been exposed to fundamental materials of the same topic.

I am not a philosophy student, neither a native English speaker, I'm just a philosophy-geek - person who is fascinated with the study of philosophy and complex writing. ... Read more

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An Unabridged, Digitally Enlarged Printing Of Volume I of III: Part I - MATHEMATICAL LOGIC - The Theory Of Deduction - Theory Of Apparent Variables - Classes And Relations - Logic And Relations - Products And Sums Of Classes - Part II - PROLEGOMENA TO CARDIANL ARITHMITIC - Unit Classes And Couples - Sub-Classes, Sub-Relations, And Relative Types - One-Many, Many-One, And One-One Relations - Selections - Inductive Relations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

1910-13 Edition!
Just to note that this is the 1910-13 Edition, so you're missing the introduction to the 1927 Second Edition, which can be found though in The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell (Routledge Classics), and 2 new appendixes: Appendix A replacing *9 and an all-new Appendix C.

A landmark book
Principia Mathematica is a landmark book on the elements of mathematics.This edition is the best price I have seen in decades.

Both Whitehead and Russell are known for their insights into philosophy and mathematics. This book, although a mathematics book, is based upon their philosophy of how the universe works. The basic assumption of this book is that symbolic logic can be used to describe the universe. From that starting point they develop the elements of modern mathematics.

This book is meant for those of us nerds who want to understand why mathematics works and how it relates to a philosophy of the universe. Note that this book is heavy on mathematical symbols (which are explained).It can be slow reading, but Whitehead and Russell's insights are stunning. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, Jazz, Green Tea, and Choco
First, we have the mathematical text only, second, this text was written by a mortal to mortals although not for all mortals, maybe only for some hundreds,and I can begin to name them rereading first chapter the Series of Natural Numbers, pp.1-10: Euclid, Pythagoras, Peano, Frege, Russell, me (or you, or anybody else reading the same pages but existing for our design now nowhere).

In the first part of the book Veblen, Whitehead, Dedekind, and Cantor join us, further Leibnits, Weierstrass, Zermelo, Kant, Sheffer, Nicod, Occam, Laplace, and Wittgenstein in the last XVlll chapter Mathematics and Logic.Usual themes look like Definition of Number, The Definition of Order, Kinds of Relations,Rational, Real, And Complex Numbers, Limits And Continuity, Functions, Descriptions, Classes, and Index pp. 207-208.Guess how many people gave their ideas to write this book?--Not more than twenty.

One question of my child's curiosity led me some weeks through all chapters: how it could help to make intelligible my own problems of explaining of 80 (!!!) interlacing triangles inside of one circumference (people didn't see it before at all during last three millennium) of more difficult star polygons than Sri Yantra (43 triangles), and now I have a strange feeling that to my taste numbers cannot be only symbols coexisting in a text and in a mind but must also have the co-ordinates in the spaces (agreement with progression) and directions where they move or not either like matter, particles, ideas, or energy according to rhythms including or not category of time. The true god is geometry.

For those who have read this note to the end and think it was pure fun I have to say jazz, Chinese green tea, and chocolate Nestle helped me a lot:)

The highest point of mathematical philosophy is a total lacking of numbers but a total sense of humour instead.Maybe, a bit of Zen too ... a lot of

Russell does an excellent job in describing the foundations of mathematics for the non-mathematician
Two of the very first courses I took in graduate school were in the foundations of mathematics, a decision that I have repeatedly praised myself for since. By learning the basic structure of mathematics, it was much easier to understand what came later. In this book, Bertrand Russell, one of the giants of mathematical philosophy, writes about the subject for a general audience.
Russell, known in mathematical circles more for his giant work "Principia Mathematica" co-authored by Alfred North Whitehead, does an excellent job in describing the foundations of mathematics for the non-mathematician. It is a difficult task, as it is hard to describe mathematics without using mathematics. While there are some sections where Russell has no choice but to mention some higher-level mathematics, he does so only when necessary and explains it well. Most people with at least some exposure to mathematics will be able to understand it. There are no proofs in the book.
As a primer on many of the basic ideas of mathematics, this book is one of the best. Russell was also a great expository writer and he demonstrates that trait here.

A Joyful, Friendly Introduction to Bertrand Russell
Okay, I have to be honest- I was a little intrepid picking up this book, and it had nothing to do with Russell's math.I had this really dogmatic atheist friend who used to endlessly quote "Why I am not a Christian," and it put me off of Bertrand Russell.

This book is a joy.It's easy to read, interesting to think about, and inexpensive.Three virtues of math books that are hard to find in combination!

A Philosophy Reading Classic
A great book by a great philosopher. Of course, much of the material was for its time advanced and revolutionary now it is more of a classic introductory text given a basic preparation in critical reading and basic mathematics to sufficiently appreciate the nuance of his thought.

Good introduction To Mathematical Logic
Bertand Russell's "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy" provides the reader with a great understanding of mathematical philosophy in a very simple and straightforward manner. Though this is an introductory work it may not be casual reading to all who endeavor to read it. Beginning with definition of numbers and sets it expands to provide definitions of simple and complex and builds to provide a good understanding of the logic behind mathematics.While much of what is spoken about may seem very elementary the logic behind certainly is not. While the book is not nearly as expansive ad "Principia Mathematica" it is a good distillation of the bigger work and provides a great introduction to anyone wishing to explore that work. I recommend this book to anyone interested in formal logic and believe that it should be in the required reading for any formal logic introductory class.Further anyone interested in reading Goedel's work's which expand on Russell's work needs at least to read this work prior to Goedel.I find this book to be very succinct and readable and ultimately very worthy of the effort it takes to read.

-- Ted Murena
... Read more

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This book describes Russell's philosophical arguments clearly and explains why some philosophers now disagree with them. ... Read more

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Al Seckel has rescued many of Bertrand Russell's best essays on religion, free thought, and nationalism from their resting places in obscure pamphlets, hard-to-find books, and out-of print periodicals to form a superb compilation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting but Hardly Relevant
Bertrand Russell's thoughts upon religion are often very interesting and exciting to read. I particularly enjoyed reading a theologian's nightmare. However hardly any of this book is philosophy on par with Russell's work in other subjects. Most of what appears to be valid in the book amounts to a critique of Christians. Very little of what Russell says is relevant to contemporary Christian philosophy in that his arguments are outdated. Very interesting but hardly any truth and substance against Christian thought.

A Theologian's Nightmare
+++++

This book consists of twenty-one essays written by Bertrand Russell (1872 to 1970) between 1912 and 1961.They were compiled and edited by Al Seckel, a member of the Bertrand Russell Society and one who has lectured extensively on Russell's life and work.According to Seckel, "the purpose of this collection is to bring together in one...volume some of Russell's most delightful thought-provoking essays on [organized] religion."

Some topics discussed are agnosticism, atheism, rationalism, churches, God, the soul, science, free thought, sin, and faith.He examines these and other topics with "rational skepticism" which is "withholding judgment where the evidence is not sufficient, or, even more so, when there is contrary evidence."

This collection of essays definitely captures the scope and depth of Russell's thinking on religion.His logic and reasoning are impeccable.I now understand why he was called "the world's most famous atheist."

The book is divided into five parts.Here are the titles of my favorite essays taken from each part:

I. (6 essays)

(1) Why I am not a Christian.
(2) The faith of a rationalist.(No supernatural reasons are needed to make humans kind.)

II. (5 essays)

(1) A debate on the existence of God. (Between Russell and a Father of the church.)

III.(2 essays)

(1) Science and religion.

IV.(6 essays)

(1) An outline of intellectual rubbish.
(2) The value of free thought.(How to become a truth-seeker and break the chains of mental slavery.)
(3) Ideas that have harmed mankind (and womankind).
(4) Ideas that have helped mankind(and womankind).

V.(2 essays)

(1) The theologian's nightmare.

Before the first essay begins, there is a brief biography of Bertrand Russell (later Lord Russell) by Seckel.It is very thorough as evidenced by the more than 55 footnotes at its end.

Finally, the only problem I had with this book is with regard to referencing.All essays are not referenced or inadequately referenced.I know that Russell in his other works extensively referenced.Thus, I'm not sure if Seckel edited out references to save space and assumed that the reader would believe everything Russell said due to his reputation.On a subject like this, I think references should have been kept in.Also, there is a bibliography at the end of the book.But it is really just a list of books written by Russell.

In conclusion, this is a fascinating collection of essays by one of most prolific and brilliant thinkers and writers of the twentieth century.Now I understand why Russell won the 1950 Nobel Prize in literature!!

**** 1/2

(essay collection published 1986;acknowledgements;biography of Bertrand Russell;5 parts or 21 chapters;main narrative 300 pages;"bibliography;"name index;subject index)

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Everything I expected
After reading 'Why I am not a christian', I was excited to find that there existed an even larger collection of Mr. Russells essays. Some of the essays in this book are already in 'Why I am not a christian', including that particular essay. The others I had not read before were informative, well-structured, and balanced. He was truly a man ahead of his time.

Not impressed
As a Christian who has studied math and philosophy, I am quite familiar with Bertrand Russell's contributions to logic and philosophy, I am quite impressed with his brilliance.When I first got this book, I was afraid ofwhat kind of powerful arguments he might present against my beliefs,instead I was shocked to find his arguments poorly constructed, hispremises, shoddy, his logic full of holes. I expect much better from aman of his genius. It is quite obvious that his atheism wasn't based on areasoned analysis of philosophy, a rigorous deduction from the evidence,rather, it was the result of a strong emotional bias against Christianethics, particularly sexual ethics, period.A disappointment through andthrough. Whether you are atheist or theist, if you are looking for agood, through, reasoned arguments against God, you should look elsewherethan the writing of Bertrand Russell.

Religion understood as a terrible bar of truth
It appears in these selections that Russell was a very complex person who thought a great deal about religion. His views are not always consistent and they are pervaded by emotion. His general tendency is against religion.He especially hates Christianity as it has been practiced throughouthistory and the idea of Christian faith. He takes faith to be a set ofrelated beliefs, on substantial issues, for which one has no good reasons.This selection is light reading, but it is too unfair to be used as anintroduction to the philosophy of religion. Of course, this is one of thefeatures of Russell's thought on religion that makes him psychologicallyinteresting. ... Read more

Product Description
The fireworks fly when the great Bertrand Russell writes about a subject as provocative as marriage and morals. But they are a rational and devastatingly logical kind of fireworks . . . for that was the nature of the man.Russell's approach to sex and love is based on the realities of need and desire, rather than on ancient tribal and religious taboos. Marriage and Morals is a clear, unbiased look at morality, a morality that is simply one aspect of Russell's lifelong opposition to restrictive dogma and an affirmation of his unshakeable faith in the adequacy of man and the power of human intellect.

"Sufficient dynamite to blast a carload of ordinary sex popularizers from the face of the earth . . . deals most competently and completely with practically every ramification of sex and sex life and occurs in modern sociology and psychology." —New York Post

"Fundamental and clear, unbiased and persuasive. Russell writes as a humanist, defending the happiness of man against many moral prejudices, advocates his changes lucidly and wittily." —Time

Customer Reviews (11)

What to rate it?
I had an older friend who admired Bertrand Russell and felt he was the bee's knees, and I've read he's the second most quoted author on college papers, after Noam Chomsky. Sadly, I'm no expert on Bertrand Russell. I've only read a few of his quotes and some information on Google, and this book Marriage and Morals. I like to think sometimes I can do a satisfactory review but this review will suffer, too, because it's been 20 years since reading it.

Marriage and Morals is. . . an incredible display of ignorance. Monumentaly so. It might fly today, in, well, the ignorant times we live but I felt it was originally meant as satire, a work attempting to embarrass the very positions it was pretending to espouse. We're under the blinders. My honest opinion was that Bertrand Russell wasn't being serious, or honest.

Let me say: I have absolutely no disagreement with Bertrand Russell's philosophy. My review of Marriage and Morals is not in any way an indictment or a criticism of Russell's lifelong career as a scholar. I should probably repeat that. When Russell wrote this book, however, he did so in the service of the very conservatives and theologians most folks would say were Russell's enemy. That was my honest opinion reading this work. Just one man's opinion. I may well be wrong I felt it was better to give my one opinion rather than remain silent. Russell was banned from some speaking engagements and from some jobs because of this work, by the very folks who put him up to it, and rightfully so. If you'd like to read an objective and unbiased account of this, worthy of enlightenment, Google the episode.

I would compare this work to The Satanic Bible, a work where the author took what he knew of christian philosophy, and simply reversed it. There are around 500 mostly positive Amazon reviews of that book. One reviewer wrote, "I'm sure if the 100s of millions of non-practising Satanists around the world were informed that their lifestyles were 'Satanic' by definition, most would be surprised, if not amused. But so long as they're living for themselves just trying to enjoy their lives, regardless of religious dogma, seldom or never have spiritual thoughts, think that if someone harms them they have a right to avenge themselves, only spend time with people who are good for their own personal growth, and feel no guilt when indulging in any of their passions, then they fit perfectly into the Satanic lifestyle". To add some more superfluous commentary, the Bible often concedes the Earth as Satan's domicile.

My review of Marriage and Morals is definitely in the minority. Only about 1 out of 10 agree with me. . . The New York Times doesn't. It gave this work a glowing review. The New York Post wrote "sufficient dynamite to blow a carload of ordinary sex populizers off the face of the planet". Another reviewer wrote, "Wow, Bertrand Russel is a riot! This has a wonderful satirical bite, and works as an open inquiry. . . But really a little sad but impressive how much of his comments have either come to pass. Or we are still awaiting them to do so".

Later in life Russell was in an open marriage, practicing what he preached. When his wife was pregnant with another man's child, it was too much even for Russell. The champion of free love petitioned for (what I assume was a very public) divorce.

There's a long history of this. Camile Paglia claims the 'the divine' Marque de Sade was actually a satirist also. Or an alarmist of some kind. Providing a 'warning', a roadmark to where society was heading. The conspicuously named 'libertines' in his stories engaging in more and more sadistic behavior, until in the end he just lists the atrocities committed each day as a list and nothing more. He's not too far from a 'truth' anti-cigarette campaign. On his death bed de Sade wanted people to know he truly was a pervert. Perhaps it constitutes a syndrome. Mentally ill folks who blame, not the conservatives and the moralizers, but the very people who champion them and want to celebrate their 'perversion'.

I remember as a kid, during economic tough times, reading about Jimmy Carter's 'malaise' speech. I took it seriously. I had no idea Jimmy Carter was attempting to make fun of himself. Was watching an excerpt of the speech on TV recently and it certainly appeared that was what Carter was actually doing. For all of Our lives I think it's worked the opposite way. At least I think most of those on the extreme far right that you can find on Google are actually in play for team diversity.

For a view from the right, there is George Gilder's 'Men and Marriage'. It's an interesting topic. It's an important topic though I don't think George Gilder on the right has all the answers either. I just felt this book, while very informative, often drew the wrong conclusions and so was self defeating, and was intended to be.

BERTRAND RUSSELL ATTACKS TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE
Bertrand Russell
Marriage and Morals
(New York: Horace Liveright, 1929) 320 pages
(London: Allen & Unwin, 1976) 203 pages

A ground-breaking book about relationships between the sexes.
Takes a rational and unconventional look at the traditions of marriage.
Argues for freedom in relationships rather than dead duty.
Russell practiced what he preached, changing relationships frequently.

If you are interested in more recent books,
search the Internet for the following bibliography:
"The Best Books Critical of Traditional Marriage".

reinventing an institution
I picked this one up in hopes that my favorite philosopher might have some good I ideas on what marriage ought to be. I'm largely unsatisfied with the institution of marriage and knew Russell was as well. The first several chapters dealing with the history of marriage and the evolution of marriage in various cultures were fascinating (though a student of anthropology will recognize some things as dated).

His observations on sexual education and the general unhealthiness of Victorian stigmatizing of sex was similarly interesting and frequently scathingly sarcastic. I copied a few quotes I liked:

"It would be wise to subject all unmarried women once a month to medical examination by police doctors, and to send to a penitentiary all such as were found to be not virgins...in order to avoid the risk of certain abuses, it would be necessary that all policemen and all medical men should be castrated." --on maintaining virtue at any cost--

"The first essential is that the education of girls should be such as to make them stupid and superstitious and ignorant; this requisite is already fulfilled in schools over which the churches have any control." --on maintaining virtue through ignorance--

"Sex outside of marriage is sin; sex within marriage is not sin... but is a disagreeable duty imposed on man as punishment for the Fall, and to be undertaken in the same spirit in which one submits to a surgical operation. Unfortunately, unless great pains are taken, the sexual act tends to be associated with pleasure, but by sufficient moral care this can be prevented, at any rate in the female."

However when it came to his actual views on what marriage ought to be I found him more reactionary than reasonable in several aspects. He did however explain the system of companionate marriage proposed in the 1920's and I found that suitable for my own future-hypothetical marriage.

I'd recommend this book to people interested in the history of marriage, but also in the idea that the marriage institution is a human invention and one that may better serve us with a bit of reworking and personalization.

A cogent discussion on morality
I bought this book to hear about Russell's opinion of our commonly held morals and mores. Prior to this I had gone through Russell's books on epistemology and was curious to see how he would use his knife to dissect 'morals', 'values' and 'virtues'. Russell's focus here is to identify the elements of sexual morality that would be best suited for the well being of the society and in the process he analyze and questions every aspect of the existing norms. Note that this book was published in the 1920's and since morality is a moving target both geographically and temporally, his analysis and conclusions is perhaps a bit dated.

Russell starts with an explanation of the matrilineal (pretty interesting...I myself come from a matrilineal lineage) and patriarchal systems and then moves on to look at the christian ethics. The Church, especially the Catholic church, comes under a lot of attack from Russell; the genesis of the problem, according to Russell, stems from the fact that the purpose of the marriage (as intended by St Paul) is to solely prevent the sin of fornication with no interest in the positive good of the marriage. The discussion then moves on to romantic love, women's liberation & feminism and onto a very convincing section on the effects of the taboos on the dissemination of sexual knowledge. He believes that this restriction has the effect of stunting the intellectual capacity of the children, especially girls. There is a discussion of the institution of marriage and the institution of prostitution and these leads to his next proposal - that there should be what he calls the 'Trial marriage'. A lot of ideas he puts forth may have sounded radical and heretical at the time (I read he lost a teaching offer at City College, New York due to this book), but they are very common in today's society. Actually, he does not approve hedonism in any way; In fact, he advocates a strong institution of marriage and a strong bond between the mother and father when it comes to children. There are, of course, other areas of discussion in the book that would be considered offensive in today's environment such as the discussion on Eugenics; but Russell is not dogmatically advocating any particular approach, he is exploring all avenues with the objective of maximizing human happiness and whenever he feels a route may not be advisable he retreats to make a new advance. The objective is to rationally identify what is good for the society and the individual without getting into the trappings of religions and moralists (whom Russell treats with disdain).

The analysis and observations in this book are based on western societies, I'm in search of a similar book that looks at these issues from the context of the Hindu society. I would like to understand how the society ended up being so morally stuck up whereas the religious mythology indicates that the God's (on whom the moralists base their actions) were totally otherwise.

Listening to a genius
The book is a little outdated but, as it's true for all his works,it allows you the exciting experience of seeing the world through the insight of a genius. ... Read more

Product Description
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is one of the most famous and important philosophers of the twentieth century.In this account of his life and work A. C. Grayling introduces both his technical contributions to logic and philosophy, and his wide-ranging views on education, politics, war, and sexual morality.Russell is credited with being one of the prime movers of Analytic Philosophy, and with having played a part in the revolution in social attitudes witnessed throughout the twentieth-century world.This introduction gives a clear survey of Russell's achievements across their whole range. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

the most important philosopher of the 20th century
Russell was a huge influence on me when I was in high school, and is chiefly responsible for my career choice of eventually becoming a professional philosopher. So I can hardly be expected to be detached in commenting on a book attempting to cover Russell's life and philosophy. Still, Grayling pulls it off very nicely, giving the reader a good sense of the long and complex life of Bertrand Russell, his contributions to logic and mathematics, and his writings on social and moral issues (he was very politically active, and got arrested twice for anti-war activities). The last chapter is also -- I think -- a well balanced appraisal of Russell's overall contribution to modern philosophy, both directly and through the people he influenced (beginning of course with Wittgenstein, who was Russell's student). A must read if you are interested in philosophy and don't want to tackle technical commentaries on BR.

AGood survey of Russel's Work
Grayling has achieved a good survey of Russel's Work in the realm of logic and philosophy as well as his contributions to social, moral, political and educational debates. The selling point for me is the fact that he does it with so much brevity and crispness. Without going into the gory details of his philosophical and logical ideas, Grayling still strikes a good balance and makes for some intersting reading.

Highly recommended for people who'd like a quick introduction to Russel.

An elegant and marvellously readable account
Bertrand Russell thought and wrote about many things from highly technicallogic to popular questions of politics and education. In the lucid, elegantand beautifully accurate prose for which he is well known (see his otherbooks and his writings for the Financial Times Book Review, Prospectmagazine, and elsewhere), the British philosopher A. C. Grayling gives aconcise survey of Russell's entire range of thought. In the biographicalfirst chapter Russell's life and works are summarised; in the next twochapters his achievements in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, andgeneral philosophy are described with succinctness and clarity; and in thefinal chapters his popular and political thought is explained, ending withan assessment of his achievement as one of the century's greatest thinkers.Because Russell is a founding figure in analytic philosophy, anunderstanding of his work provides an introduction to contemporary debatesin philosophy also, so this little book is not only a highly pleasurable"good read", but an education in the basics of philosophy. ... Read more

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a selection from: I. Introductory Mr. Haldane's Daedalus has set forth an attractive picture of the future as it may become through the use of scientific discoveries to promote human happiness. Much as I should like to agree with his forecast, a long experience of statesmen and government has made me somewhat sceptical. I am compelled to fear that science will be used to promote the power of dominant groups, rather than to make men happy. Icarus, having been taught to fly by his father Daedalus, was destroyed by his rashness. I fear that the same fate may overtake the populations whom modern men of science have taught to fly. Some of the dangers inherent in the progress of science while we retain our present political and economic institutions are set forth in the following pages.This subject is so vast that it is impossible, within a limited space, to do more than outline some of its aspects. The world in which we live differs profoundly from that of Queen Anne's time, and this difference is mainly attributable to science. That is to say, the difference would be very much less than it is but for various scientific discoveries, but resulted from those discoveries by the operation of ordinary human nature. The changes that have been brought about have been partly good, partly bad; whether, in the end, science will prove to have been a blessing or a curse to mankind, is to my mind, still a doubtful question.

A science may affect human life in two different ways. On the one hand, without altering men's passions or their general outlook, it may increase their power of gratifying their desires. On the other hand, it may operate through an effect upon the imaginative conception of the world, the theology or philosophy which is accepted in practice by energetic men. The latter is a fascinating study, but I shall almost wholly ignore it, in order to bring my subject within a manageable compass. I shall confine myself almost wholly to the effect of science in enabling us to gratify our passions more freely, which has hitherto been far the more important of the two.

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Product Description
Russell on Religion presents a comprehensive and accessible selection of Bertrand Russell's writing on religion and related topics from the turn of the century to the end of his life. The influence of religion pervades almost all Bertrand Russell's writings from his mathematical treatises to his early fiction.This comprehensive selection of writings offers a clear overview of the development of his thinking about religion.

Russell contends with religion as a philosopher, historian, social critic and private individual. The selections papers are arranged chronologically, and span Russell's thinking with his personal statements, and his views on religion and philosophy, religion and science, religion and morality and religion and history.This collection shows the development and diversity of Russell's thinking on religion and exposes the reader to all aspects of his work on this subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Russell on Religion
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was one of the twentieth century's most important philosophers and one of its best-known free thinkers.Raised in a religiously liberal home, Russell abandoned liberal Christianity early on seeking a "religion of reason."Although he ultimately abandoned that as well, his views on religion remained complex.

This collection of Russell's writings on religious is organized by biographical accounts; religion and philosophy; religion and science; religion and morality; and religion and history. It contains most of Russell's most important work on the subject, such as the famous essay "Why I Am Not a Christian."I was disappointed however that it doesn't contain his famous debate with Fr. Copleston.

The introduction by Professors Greenspan and Andersson is excellent.The editors acknowledge the importance of Russell's work in this area, but also his weakness as a historian of religion.

A"Free Man's Worship."
As a freethinker, Bertrand Russell recognized that his approach toward religion was "somewhat complex" (p. 3; see also, "My Mental Development").Over the course of his life, Russell's attitudes toward religion evolved from an attempt to "preserve religion without any dependence on dogmas," to a more polemical stance (p. 3).Like Freud, Russell searched for the roots of popular religion in psychology, and found that the purpose of religion is to give respectability to the passions of fear, conceit, and hatred (p. 11, see also, "Has Religion Contributed to Civilization?").The writings Russell scholars Louis Greenspan and Stefan Anderson have collected in this volume are representative of Russell's "uncompromising opposition to religion" (p. 12), and offer an excellent passage into Russell's thoughts on the subject of religion.Greenspan and Anderson have organized Russell's writings into five sections, revealing the chronological development of their subject's thoughts on religion.

Russell believed that the only way to obtain liberation from suffering was to abandon any hope for private happiness, and to burn instead with a passion for eternal things independent of the ruin of the physical universe (pp. 20-21; see also, "The Free Man's Worship").For him, true wisdom meant knowing all, loving all, and serving all (p. 69, see also, "The Essence of Religion").Among present-day religions, he considered Buddhism the best because it focuses on the question of what Man is, rather than what the universe is (p. 74; see also, "The Essence and Effect of Religion").In his his seminal essay, "Why I am not a Christian," Russell advocated standing up and looking the world "frankly in the face.""A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage," he wrote;"it does not need a regretful hankering over the past, or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence.It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time towards a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create" (p. 91).

This intellectually stimulating collection of essays will appeal to readers interested in the subject of religion, and to those looking for an introduction to the philosophical, historical, critical, and private writings of Bertrand Russell.

G. Merritt ... Read more

Product Description
The Problems of Philosophy is one of Bertrand Russell's attempts to create a brief and accessible guide to the problems of philosophy. Focusing on problems he believes will provoke positive and constructive discussion, Russell concentrates on knowledge rather than metaphysics.

If it is uncertain that external objects exist, how can we then have knowledge of them but by probability. There is no reason to doubt the existence of external objects simply because of sense data.

Russell guides the reader through his famous 1910 distinction between "knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description" and introduces important theories of Plato, Aristotle, René Descartes, David Hume, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel and others to lay the foundation for philosophical inquiry by general readers and scholars alike. ... Read more

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This book has DirectLink Technology built into the formatting. This means that we have made it easy for you to navigate the various chapters of this book. Some other versions of this book may not have the DirectLink technology built into them. We can guarantee that if you buy this version of the book it will be formatted perfectly on your Kindle. ... Read more

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Along with Why I Am Not a Christian, this essay must rank as the most articulate example of Russell's famed atheism. It is also one of the most notorious. Used as evidence in a 1940 court case in which Russell was declared unfit to teach college-level philosophy, What I Believe was to become one of his most defining works. The ideas contained within were and are controversial, contentious and - to the religious - downright blasphemous. A remarkable work, it remains the best concise introduction to Russell's thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Not all wisdom is new, nor is all folly out of date"
This work is an attempt to define the characteristics of the scientific process, identify the techniques as in the application of it to various disciplines and finally Russell makes certain conjectures about how a scientific society might eventually end up.

The book is divided into 3 main sections,
- Scientific Knowledge
- Scientific Technique
- Scientific Society

The part that I liked the most is 'Scientific Knowledge'; especially the discussion pertaining to science, metaphysics and religion. In addition to identifying the characteristics of the scientific process (observation, inductive and deductive reasoning, experimentation, approximation etc) Russell provides a nice explanation about the limitations of this process. Topics such as the validity of the inductive reasoning, inference and the questions/concerns about the abstractness of theoretical physics is discussed in a very interesting manner. In the chapter 'Science and Religion' Russell takes on Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans for speculating the possibility of the existence of a creator; Russell replies to Eddington's use of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to imply the lack of causality and James Jeans thesis of "God as a Mathematician" get a fair amount of dressing down with Russell finally remarking "one does not quite see what can have been gained by creating so such muddle-headedness"

I'm not sure if I gained anything much from the section 'Scientific Technique'. When Russell wrote this book the application of science to biology, physiology and psychology was in its infancy; it does, however, give a snapshot of those early days.

The third section speculates about how a scientific society might look like in the future - a recurring theme in many of his writings; it talks about the ruling oligarchies employing science to gain control. Topics touched upon here include education, eugenics and others. The book ends with a nice chapter entitled 'Science and Values' where Russell looks down upon "power science" and says "Thus it is only in so far as we renounce the world as its lovers that we can conquer it as its technicians"

Overall, a nice book; if you have read Russell's other books related to science and society you will notice quite a bit of an overlap.

Science meets Philosophy (again)
This book is a series of essays grouped together into three sections. Scientific Knowledge is a primer on how the role it plays in overall thinking and philosophy. There is more to establishing an ideology than science and it needs to work in conjunction with the arts for example. The second section is the "How To" of the Scientific Method and the third is a scary portrayal of how a purely scientific world society might end up. It was originally published about the same time as 1984 and Brave New World all three of these writers obviously saw the potential risk of what Russell describes as science for power's sake rather than for the love of knowledge and learning.

Many years ago I read much if not all of these essays about the value of the Scientific Method (or Technique as he says). I was won over and as a student of Social Sciences I attempted to use the method to the best of my ability. I also appreciated his socially liberal outlook that can be seen throughout. Years hence, upon re-reading the book I find that I still appreciate the writing but I have been inured in my thinking that the world will be a better place with the Scientific Method playing a larger role in policy making.

Some of Russell's sentiment of 1931 does not play that well today, such as his tempered admiration for the USSR but many others should his prescient thinking. Those incident's were many but I will only present one and that is because I saw it as true but funny in a melancholy way. In the third section he describes how people in the scientific world society will have no wars and therefore will have to have death defying games in order for those personality types to be able to vent there lust. Today we have reality television.

The most influential science fiction source of all time?
Unlike the many other great literary inspirations of the science fiction writers of theof the twentieth century, this book is not a work of science fiction.

As its name suggests, The Scientific Outlook, is an attempt to predict the next developments in science as seen from the perspective of the early 1930's.

The contents of this book were so outrageous and shocking in their time that they were best appreciated by those people who saw it as their business to show our destiny taking an unexpected turn, painting a picture of a time to come when things contrast radically with our current circumstances.

There are instances where such predictive storytelling is intended as a warning, attempting to offer an insight into how seemingly innocuous trends and apparently insignificant contemporary changes portend unforeseen (but not unforeseeable) catastrophic longer term outcomes.

Science fiction writing has a major category called 'technological extrapolation' in which the above occurs, and within that genre there is a subcategory called 'dystopia' which uses such crystal gazing to present a kind of 'negative utopia' where 'it all ends in tears'.

The two most famous twentieth century dystopias, two 'worlds turned upside down', are Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and '1984' by George Orwell.

Both of these great works have very strong connections to this book, the former being substantially derived from it.

Aldous Huxley was Russell's student and published Brave New World a year after The Scientific Outlook.

Orwell was strongly influenced in '1984' by Burnham's 1940 classic 'The Managerial Revolution' which has strong parallels with 'The Scientific Outlook' (although Russell claims no direct influence on Burnham, he points out the similarity of Burnham's material, which was published nearly a decade after Russell's book).

Even if the similarity to the predictions in `The Managerial Revolution' was a freakish coincidence, the connection to Brave New world is unquestionable and the shared dystopian derivations are `of a piece' with 1984 to the extent where, if you want to `go back to the source' in an easily readable form (Russell's writing is razor sharp and witty, with all the historical context you could wish for in a popular science book) you could not ask for a better starting point in terms of understanding the technological roots of those two great novels.

An enjoyable and insightful read, essential for anyone trying to get to grips with the recent history and philosophy of science, especially in the highly controversial field of medical ethics, where it is possible to see eugenics from a standpoint which preceded its post-war ethical and political denunciation. ... Read more

Product Description
Mysticism and Logic and Other Essaysby Bertrand Russell

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Product Description
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (b.1872 - d.1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist, and social critic, best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his defense of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), and his theories of definite descriptions and logical atomism. Along with G.E. Moore, Russell is generally recognized as one of the founders of analytic philosophy. Along with Kurt Gödel, he is also regularly credited with being one of the two most important logicians of the twentieth century.

Over the course of his long career, Russell made significant contributions, not just to logic and philosophy, but to a broad range of other subjects including education, history, political theory and religious studies. In addition, many of his writings on a wide variety of topics in both the sciences and the humanities have influenced generations of general readers. 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. Also noted for his many spirited anti-war and anti-nuclear protests, Russell remained a prominent public figure until his death at the age of 97. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Idea Whose Time Has Come
I've got a copy of Bertrand Russell's original edition of "Proposed Roads to Freedom" which I read nearly four decades ago.

Guild socialism was originally an offshoot of Fabian Socialism, though arguably more radical and working class-oriented than the Fabians.

Bertrand Russell's "Proposed Roads to Freedom" may be the most accessible introduction to guild socialism. I'd highly recommend Russell's very readable and worthwhile book to anyone who may be interested.For those who might want to pursue the subject further, more in-depth writings were produced by A.R. Orage and G.D.H. Cole--see especially Cole's "Self-government in Industry."

Participatory Economics ("Parecon") is sometimes considered a form of anarchism, but seeking to balance production and consumption actually makes it a particular interpretation of guild socialism.

Several years ago I asked a Parecon author why the contribution of the guild socialists was not acknowledged.The answer was the author was unfamiliar with this earlier tradition.The new release of "Proposed Roads to Freedom" may help rectify that deficiency.It should contribute not only to the debate about socialism that has emerged in the recent transnational financial crisis, but to the debate over various socialist approaches, such as expanded social democracy, municipal libertarianism, and market socialism.Ideas that resurface independently may have merit.Guild socialism may be an idea whose time has finally come.

J. Jurie ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Strictly reserved for the serious
To my knowledge, one of the best books ever written. Russell's English has a wonderful, graceful clarity. But this is not an easy book to read. What does it mean to "know"? what do we know? how far can we be sure that we do in fact know? These are fundamental questions about human thought, and this book is an essential item in the library of anyone who is concerned with such questions. ... Read more