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The Will to Doubt Bertrand Russell 9781566490580 Books

Download As PDF : The Will to Doubt Bertrand Russell 9781566490580 Books

The Will to Doubt Bertrand Russell 9781566490580 Books

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Tags : The Will to Doubt [Bertrand Russell] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Another collection of essays by a master of the art. These deal primarily with the silliness of conventional wisdom.,Bertrand Russell,The Will to Doubt,Welcome Rain Publishers,1566490588,Philosophy,Philosophy.,Rationalism,Reasoning,Essays,History & Surveys - General,History of Western philosophy,PHILOSOPHY Essays,Philosophy History & Surveys General,PhilosophyHistory & Surveys - General,Philosophy: History & Surveys General,Russell, Bertrand

The Will to Doubt Bertrand Russell 9781566490580 Books Reviews

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was an influential British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and political activist. In 1950, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in recognition of his many books such as A History of Western Philosophy,The Problems of Philosophy,The Philosophy of Logical Atomism,The Analysis of Mind,Our Knowledge of the External World,Human Knowledge Its Scope and Limits,Mysticism and Logic, etc.

He wrote in the essay, “Can Men Be Rational?” “It is found that many of the delusions of lunatics result from instinctive obstructions, and can be cured by purely mental means---i.e. by making the patient bring to mind facts of which he had repressed the memory. This kind of treatment, and the outlook which inspires it, pre-suppose an ideal of sanity, from which the patient has departed, and to which he is to be brought back by making him conscious of all the relevant facts, including those he most wishes to forget. This is the exact opposite of that lazy acquiescence in irrationality which is sometimes urged by those who only know that psychoanalysis has shown the prevalence of irrational beliefs, and who forget or ignore that its purpose is to diminish this prevalence by a definite method of medical treatment. A closely similar method can cure the irrationalities of those who are not recognized lunatics, provided they will submit to treatment by a practitioner free from their delusions. Presidents, Cabinet Ministers, and Eminent Persons, however, seldom fulfill this condition, and therefore remain uncured.” (Pg. 13)

He continues, “I believe that all solid progress in the world consists of an increase in rationality, both practical and theoretical. To preach an altruistic morality appears to me somewhat useless, because it will appeal only to those who already have altruistic desires. But to preach rationality is somewhat different, since rationality helps us to realize our own desires on the whole, whatever they may be.”(Pg. 16)

In “Free Thought and Official Propaganda,” he points out, “In England, under the Blasphemy Laws, it is illegal to express disbelief in the Christian religion, though in practice the law is not set in motion against the well-to-do. It is also illegal to teach what Christ taught on the subject of non-resistance. Therefore, whoever wishes to avoid becoming a criminal must profess to agree with Christ’s teaching, but must avoid saying what that teaching was.” (Pg. 18)

He notes that under New York law, “the teacher who ‘does not approve of the present social system… must surrender his office’… Thus, according to the law of the State of New York, Christ and George Washington were too degraded morally to be fit for the education of the young. If Christ were… to say, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me,’ the President of the New York School Board would reply, ‘Sir, I see no evidence that you are eager to combat theories of social change. Indeed, I have heard it said that you advocate what you call the ‘kingdom of heaven,’ whereas this country, thank God, is a republic… therefore no children will be allowed access to you.’” (Pg. 26)

He concludes this essay, “If I am asked how the world is to be induced to adopt these two maxims---namely (1) that jobs should be given to people on account of their fitness to perform them; (2) that one aim of education should be to cure people of the habit of believing propositions for which there is no evidence---I can only say that it must be done by generating an enlightened public opinion… [and] by the efforts of those who desire that it should exist.” (Pg. 36)

In “On the Value of Scepticism,” he says, “The ordinary methods of education have practically no effect upon the unconscious, so that shrewdness cannot be taught by our present technique. Morality, also, except where it exists by mere habit, seems incapable of being taught by present methods; at any rate, I have never noticed any beneficent effect upon those who are exposed to frequent exhortation. Therefore on our present lines any deliberate improvement must be brought about by intellectual means.” (Pg. 48)

In “On Youthful Cynicism,” he asserts, “Even [religious] believers are concerned much more with the effects of religion in this world than with that other world that they profess to believe in; they are not nearly so sure that this world was created for the glory of God as they are that God is a useful hypothesis for improving this world. By subordinating God to the needs of sublunary life, they cast suspicion upon the genuineness of their faith. They seem to think that God, like the Sabbath, was made for man.” (Pg. 53)

He argues in “The Ancestry of Fascism,” that “Kant was determined to believe in causality, God, immortality, the moral law, and so on, but perceived that Hume’s philosophy made all this difficult. He therefore invented a distinction between ‘pure’ reason and ‘practical’ reason… It is, of course, obvious that ‘pure’ reason was simply reason, while ‘practical’ reason was prejudice. Thus Kant brought back into philosophy the appeal to something recognized as outside the sphere of theoretical rationality, which had been banished from the schools ever since the rise of scholasticism.” (Pg. 88-89)

These essays are perhaps a bit more “dated” than some other collections of Russell’s essays, but his brilliant mind and clear writing style are always a refreshing read.
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