The text comprises excerpts from Bertrand Russell’s autobiography, covering the period from his childhood to 1914. It details his early life, including family relationships, intellectual development, and education. Russell recounts experiences at Cambridge, his relationships with prominent figures like Whitehead and Moore, and his evolving philosophical views. The autobiography also explores Russell’s personal life, including his first marriage and romantic interests, interwoven with his professional endeavors. Furthermore, the text provides glimpses into his social and political engagements, such as his involvement in the women’s suffrage movement and his evolving stance on pacifism. The selected passages offer a multifaceted view of Russell’s formative years, revealing the personal and intellectual forces that shaped his life and thought.

Bertrand Russell: A Study Guide to His Autobiography (1872-1914)

I. Quiz

Answer each question in 2-3 sentences based on the provided excerpts.

1. What role did Bertrand Russell’s grandmother, Lady Russell, play in his upbringing?
2. Describe one anecdote from Russell’s childhood that illustrates his curiosity or precociousness.
3. What was Russell’s initial attitude toward religion during his adolescence, and what influenced this view?
4. What did Russell study at Cambridge University?
5. Who was Alys Pearsall Smith, and what was her significance in Russell’s life during this period?
6. What is the “Society” that is mentioned in some of the included letters, and what was its significance to Russell and his peers?
7. What is Principia Mathematica, and why is it important?
8. What political and social issues was Russell involved with or interested in during the early 1900s?
9. Name some of the prominent intellectuals or figures who corresponded with Russell, as revealed in the letters.
10. What was Russell’s attitude toward World War I?

II. Quiz Answer Key

1. Lady Russell became Bertrand’s guardian after his parents’ death and instilled in him the values of Victorian aristocracy, including a rigorous home education. She shaped his early intellectual development and social outlook.
2. The story of the sponge cake exemplifies his early desire for something sweet. He remained still for the photograph, which was wholly successful, but he never got the sponge cake.
3. Russell initially questioned religious dogma and began doubting traditional beliefs. His reading and intellectual development led him to question many conventional views.
4. Russell studied mathematics at Cambridge University, excelling in the subject and eventually earning the title of Seventh Wrangler.
5. Alys Pearsall Smith became Russell’s first wife and was a significant intellectual and emotional influence on him. Their relationship marked a departure from his upbringing and shaped his views on love and marriage.
6. The “Society” was a Cambridge discussion group where Russell and his peers debated philosophical and moral issues. It was a space that challenged intellectual debate among bright young men.
7. Principia Mathematica is a monumental work of mathematical logic co-authored by Russell and Alfred North Whitehead. It was a key publication that attempted to derive mathematical truths from logical axioms and was an incredibly influential publication.
8. Russell was concerned with issues like pacifism, social reform, and women’s suffrage. These pursuits reflected his growing social consciousness and commitment to progressive causes.
9. Russell corresponded with figures such as Gilbert Murray, Logan Pearsall Smith, and Beatrice Webb, engaging in discussions on diverse topics from ethics to politics.
10. The source material does not reveal Russell’s attitude toward World War I.

III. Essay Questions

1. Discuss the influence of Bertrand Russell’s family, particularly his grandmother, on his intellectual and personal development as portrayed in the autobiography.
2. Analyze the role of Cambridge University and the intellectual climate there in shaping Russell’s philosophical and mathematical pursuits.
3. Examine the significance of Russell’s relationships, including his marriage to Alys Pearsall Smith, in understanding his evolving views on love, society, and personal freedom.
4. Explore the ways in which Russell’s autobiography reflects the broader social, political, and intellectual currents of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in England.
5. Trace the development of Russell’s philosophical and political ideas as presented in the autobiography, focusing on key influences, turning points, and recurring themes.

IV. Glossary of Key Terms

• Alys Pearsall Smith: Bertrand Russell’s first wife, an American Quaker, and a significant intellectual and emotional influence on him.
• Cambridge Apostles (The Society): A secret intellectual society at Cambridge University, known for its members’ progressive and often unconventional views.
• Fabian Society: A British socialist organization founded to advance socialist principles through gradual reform, rather than revolution.
• Freethinker: A person who forms their own opinions about religion and other matters, rather than accepting what they are told.
• Gilbert Murray: A prominent classicist and intellectual who corresponded with Russell on topics ranging from Greek tragedy to ethical theory.
• Lady Russell: Bertrand Russell’s paternal grandmother, who raised him and instilled in him a strong sense of Victorian morality and intellectual rigor.
• Logan Pearsall Smith: An American-born essayist and critic who was Alys Pearsall Smith’s brother and a friend of Russell’s, known for his witty and insightful letters.
• Principia Mathematica: Russell’s most important publication and a landmark achievement in the history of logic and mathematics.
• Seventh Wrangler: An academic rank achieved by Russell in the Cambridge University Mathematical Tripos examination.
• Unitarianism: A liberal religious movement that emphasizes reason, individual conscience, and the inherent worth of every person, rejecting traditional doctrines such as the Trinity.
• Whig: An old political party that favored reform.

Bertrand Russell: Formative Years, Philosophy, and Relationships

Okay, here is a briefing document summarizing the main themes and ideas from the provided excerpts of Bertrand Russell’s autobiography:

Briefing Document: Bertrand Russell’s Autobiography (1872-1914)

Source: Excerpts from “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell – 1872-1914”

Main Themes:

• Early Life and Family: The excerpts cover Russell’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, focusing on his upbringing by his grandmother, his relationships with family members (often complex and sometimes strained), and his intellectual development.
• Intellectual Development & Cambridge: A significant portion focuses on his time at Cambridge, his engagement with mathematics and philosophy, his relationships with influential figures like Ward and Moore, and his involvement in intellectual societies.
• Personal Relationships and Marriage: Russell’s relationships, especially his courtship and early marriage to Alys Pearsall Smith, are explored, revealing the emotional and intellectual dynamics of these connections.
• Social and Political Engagement: The excerpts touch upon Russell’s evolving political views, including his interest in socialism, his engagement with social reform movements (like those associated with the Webbs), and his developing pacifist stance.
• Religious and Moral Doubts: Russell grapples with questions of religion, morality, and the existence of God, particularly during his adolescence, documenting his shift away from traditional religious beliefs.
• The Development of his Philosophical Work: The excerpts show Russell’s initial philosophical pursuits, including his work on geometry and economics, which developed into mathematical philosophy.

Key Ideas and Facts:

• Orphaned and Raised by Grandmother: Russell was orphaned at an early age and raised by his grandmother, Lady Russell, under strict Victorian principles. This upbringing significantly shaped his early life and intellectual development.
• “Bertrand Russell was orphaned at an early age. His grandmother, Lady Russell, reared him according to the tenets of Victorian aristocracy.”
• Early Education and Intellectual Curiosity: He was tutored at home and displayed early intellectual curiosity, engaging in discussions on scientific matters and religious questions.
• “He talked to me about scientific matters, of which he had considerable knowledge… I remember asking him once why they had coloured glass in church windows.”
• Family Eccentricities: The Russell and Stanley families were filled with eccentric characters, including a Mohammedan uncle, a Roman Catholic priest, and a relative obsessed with esoteric Buddhism.
• “Her eldest son was a Mohammedan, and almost stone deaf. Her second son, Lyulph, was a free-thinker… Her third son, Algernon, was a Roman Catholic priest.”
• Religious Skepticism: Russell’s diaries from his adolescence reveal his grappling with religious faith and his questioning of traditional arguments for God’s existence. He questioned the need for a divine power, the existence of miracles, and immortality.
• “I think they are only attributable to a divine controlling power, which I accordingly call God.”
• “For if God is the maker of the laws, surely it would imply an imperfection in the law if it had to be altered occasionally.”
• Cambridge and Intellectual Influences: Cambridge was a pivotal experience for Russell, where he encountered influential thinkers like G.E. Moore and James Ward, and engaged in intense intellectual discussions within societies like “The Society.”
• “We were still Victorian; they were Edwardian. We believed in ordered progress by means of politics and free discussion”
• The “Principia Mathematica”: The excerpts document the early stages of Russell’s work on his monumental Principia Mathematica, a landmark achievement in mathematical logic.
• Early Social and Political Views: Russell was exposed to socialist ideas and engaged with social reform movements, influenced by figures like Beatrice and Sidney Webb.
• Relationship with Alys Pearsall Smith: The autobiography details Russell’s growing affection for and eventual marriage to Alys Pearsall Smith, showcasing the intellectual and emotional connection between them, as well as the disapproval from his family due to religious differences.
• “I came of age in May 1893, and from this moment my relations with Alys began to be something more than distant admiration.”
• Pacifism: His developing pacifist views are evident. “But I think it is a good thing that we should win diplomatically, if possible, without a…”

Notable Quotes:

• “What? Destroy my library? Never!” (Illustrates a character’s priorities and perhaps a certain intellectual detachment.)
• “Passion” (Lytton Strachey’s single-word answer to what literature should aim at.)
• “the world is too serious a place, at times, for the barriers of reserve and good manners.”
• “Die to Self is an old maxim; Love thy neighbour as thyself is new in this connexion, but also has an element of truth.”

Overall Impression:

The excerpts provide a glimpse into the formative years of Bertrand Russell, highlighting his intellectual curiosity, his evolving philosophical and political beliefs, and the complex relationships that shaped his life. The autobiography reveals a mind grappling with fundamental questions of existence, morality, and the role of the individual in society.

Bertrand Russell: Life, Philosophy, and Social Impact

What were Bertrand Russell’s early influences and how did they shape his intellectual development?

Bertrand Russell was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandmother, Lady Russell, according to strict Victorian aristocratic principles. He was tutored at home, which allowed him to pursue his own intellectual interests without the constraints of a traditional schooling environment. He had an uncle who was scientifically inclined that exposed him to scientific matters and encouraged his intellectual curiosity from an early age. He studied Georg Cantor’s Mannichfaltigkeitslehre, and Gottlob Frege’s Begriffsschrift, which would later become the basis of his work in mathematical philosophy.

How did Bertrand Russell’s views on religion evolve throughout his life?

Russell’s early religious upbringing was rooted in the Christian faith, influenced by his family. However, as he matured intellectually, he began to question and eventually reject religious dogma. His notes during adolescence reflect his internal debates about God, free will, and immortality, questioning the reasonableness of religious reasoning and the existence of miracles. Over time, Russell transitioned to a more secular worldview, prioritizing reason and evidence over faith-based beliefs. Despite his rejection of traditional religion, Russell expressed a deep interest in mystical experiences.

What role did mathematics and logic play in Bertrand Russell’s philosophical pursuits?

Mathematics and logic were central to Russell’s philosophical work. He believed that philosophical problems could be clarified and resolved through the application of logical analysis and mathematical principles. He viewed mathematics as a source of intellectual stimulation. Russell worked to establish philosophy as a rigorous and systematic discipline, emphasizing precision and clarity of thought. Principia Mathematica, co-authored with Alfred North Whitehead, was a landmark achievement in this endeavor.

How did Bertrand Russell engage with political and social issues of his time?

Russell was deeply involved in the political and social issues of his time, advocating for causes such as socialism, free trade, and women’s suffrage. He admired figures like Lloyd George and supported policies aimed at social reform and economic equality. Russell was also a vocal critic of imperialism and militarism, particularly during World War I, which led to imprisonment due to his pacifist stance. He was associated with the Fabian Society.

What were some of the key relationships that influenced Bertrand Russell’s life and work?

Russell had a complex and rich web of relationships that significantly influenced his life and intellectual development. His relationships with his grandmother, figures like G.E. Moore and the Cambridge Apostles, and his first wife Alys Pearsall Smith, all played important roles. His correspondence with individuals like Gilbert Murray and Lucy Martin Donnelly reveals the depth of his intellectual and emotional connections.

What were Bertrand Russell’s views on pacifism and war?

Russell was a committed pacifist, particularly during World War I, when his opposition to the war led to social ostracism and imprisonment. He was critical of imperialism and militarism, advocating for peaceful solutions to international conflicts.

How did Bertrand Russell approach the writing and development of his philosophical works?

Russell often engaged in extensive correspondence with friends and colleagues, discussing and refining his ideas. He was deeply involved in the writing of Principia Mathematica, a monumental work in mathematical logic, and sought feedback and collaboration from others. He also wrote on a variety of philosophical and social topics.

What were some of the personal struggles and challenges that Bertrand Russell faced throughout his life?

Russell experienced personal struggles related to family relationships, romantic relationships, and intellectual pursuits. His upbringing as an orphan and his strained relationship with his grandmother created emotional challenges. He had difficulty driving self-love from this entrenchment. He faced social isolation and criticism due to his political views and unconventional lifestyle.

Bertrand Russell: Early Life and Cambridge

Bertrand Russell’s early life was marked by the loss of his parents at a young age and subsequent upbringing by his grandmother, Lady Russell. Here’s a summary of his childhood and adolescence:

Childhood:

• Early Memories: Russell’s first vivid recollection was arriving at Pembroke Lodge in February 1876. He recalls tea in the servants’ hall and being the subject of discussion among notable persons.
• Family:
• His parents were considered radicals and admired those opposing slavery in America.
• His mother wrote a description of him shortly after his birth, noting his resemblance to his brother Frank.
• He was made a ward in Chancery and given to his grandparents.
• Pembroke Lodge:
• The Lodge had eleven acres of garden that played a large part in his life up to the age of eighteen.
• He spent time collecting bird eggs and meditating in the garden.
• Grandparents:
• His grandfather, whom he remembered as a man well past eighty, died when Russell was six.
• His grandmother was well-read in English literature and history but lacked understanding of reasoning. She was austere and unworldly.
• Aunts and Uncles:
• His Uncle Rollo stimulated his scientific interests by discussing the effects of the Krakatoa eruption.
• His Aunt Agatha taught him English Constitutional history.
• Education:
• He had German nursery governesses and spoke German fluently.
• His aunt taught him lessons on colors and reading.
• Nature: Russell had an increasing sense of loneliness, and nature, books, and mathematics saved him from despondency.
• Unhappiness: He wished his parents had lived and his grandmother told him it was fortunate that they had died.

Adolescence:

• Loneliness and Secrecy: Russell’s adolescence was lonely and unhappy, marked by the need to keep his emotional and intellectual life secret.
• Interests: He was divided between sex, religion, and mathematics.
• Sexuality:
• He first learned about sex at twelve and considered free love the only rational system.
• He experienced intense sexual passions at fifteen and began masturbating.
• Religion:
• He was taught Unitarianism but began questioning fundamental Christian beliefs at fifteen.
• He read Gibbon and Milman, which influenced his views.
• Social Life: He was shy, awkward, and well-behaved, envying those who could manage social interactions.
• Education:
• He was sent to an Army crammer at Old Southgate to prepare for a scholarship examination at Trinity College, Cambridge.
• He read Mill’s Political Economy and Herbert Spencer.
• Politics and Economics: Aunt Agatha introduced him to Henry George’s books, and Russell believed that land nationalization would secure the benefits that Socialists hoped to obtain from Socialism.
• Loss of Faith: Russell felt disappointed and pained by thought.
• Rule of Life: To act in the manner he believed to be most likely to produce the greatest happiness, considering both the intensity of the happiness and the number of people made happy.

Cambridge:

• Mathematics: Russell went to Cambridge because of his interest in mathematics.
• The Apostles: Russell was elected to The Society in 1892. The Society was supposed to be The World of Reality; everything else was Appearance. People who were not members of The Society were called “phenomena”.
• Friends: He made friends through Whitehead’s recommendation.
• Logic: Keynes’s father taught old-fashioned formal logic in Cambridge.

Bertrand Russell: Cambridge Years, Intellectual Growth, and Friendships

Bertrand Russell’s time at Cambridge University was a transformative period in his life, shaping his intellectual development and providing him with lifelong friendships.

Reasons for Attending & First Impressions:

• Russell chose Cambridge because of his interest in mathematics, although his father had attended Cambridge and his brother was at Oxford.
• His initial experience involved staying in New Court rooms for scholarship examinations in December 1889.
• Shyness prevented him from exploring the grounds, but he was invited to dine with the Master.
• He obtained a minor scholarship, marking his first opportunity to compare himself with able contemporaries.

Relationships & Social Life:

• Cambridge provided Russell with friends and intellectual discussions.
• He became very sociable and found that being home-schooled was not an impediment.
• Congenial society helped him become less solemn.
• He initially assumed there were many clever people at the university, but he later realized he knew the cleverest people by his second year.
• In his third year, he met G. E. Moore, who he considered a genius for some years.

The Society (The Apostles):

• Election: Russell was elected to The Society early in 1892.
• Secrecy: The Society was secretive to keep potential members unaware of consideration for election.
• Purpose: It was a small discussion society that included one or two people from each year.
• Membership: It has included most people of intellectual eminence at Cambridge since 1820.
• Impact: It allowed him to get to know the people best worth knowing, such as Whitehead.
• Principles: Discussions had no taboos or limitations, allowing absolute freedom of speculation.
• Habits: Meetings typically ended around one o’clock at night, followed by discussions in the cloisters of Neville’s Court.
• Values: Members valued intellectual honesty.
• Beliefs: The Society considered itself “The World of Reality”; non-members were “phenomena”.

Academic & Intellectual Development:

• Russell had been interested in philosophy before Cambridge but hadn’t read much beyond Mill.
• He desired a reason to believe mathematics true, finding Mill’s arguments inadequate.
• His mathematical tutors hadn’t shown him why calculus wasn’t a tissue of fallacies.
• He discovered Continental work that addressed his mathematical questions after leaving Cambridge.
• He initially struggled with understanding Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.
• By his fourth year, he had become more lighthearted and flippant, even jokingly proclaiming himself as God.
• He enjoyed exploring different philosophical perspectives.

Teaching & Dons:

• He derived no benefit from lectures as an undergraduate and vowed not to assume lecturing did any good when he became a lecturer.
• He regarded the dons as unnecessary figures of fun as an undergraduate.
• He later found them to be serious forces of evil when he became a Fellow and attended College meetings.

Friends Made at Cambridge

• Another friend during his Cambridge years was McTaggart, a philosopher even shyer than Russell.
• Two other friends he met in his early days in Cambridge were Lowes Dickinson and Roger Fry.
• From his first moment at Cambridge, in spite of shyness, he was exceedingly sociable.
• He became friends with Whitehead who told the younger members to investigate Sanger and Russell.

Changes & Disappointments:

• By the time Russell was in his fourth year, he had ceased to be the shy prig that he was when he first went to Cambridge.
• During his time at Cambridge he began to disagree with his people in everything except politics.
• He gradually unlearned habits of thought acquired there, considering most of what he learned in philosophy erroneous.
• He valued intellectual honesty but realized its limitations, even at Cambridge.

Overview: Cambridge provided Russell with friends, experience of intellectual discussion, and the development of intellectual honesty.

Bertrand Russell: Love, Marriage, and Relationships

Bertrand Russell’s life included a complex web of romantic relationships, marked by intense emotions, intellectual connections, and evolving views on love and marriage.

Three Passions Russell said that three passions governed his life: love, knowledge, and pity. He sought the union of love as a prefiguring vision of heaven and found it at last.

Alys Pearsall Smith

• Early relationship: Russell’s relationship with Alys began to develop after he turned 21.
• Engagement: They discussed divorce and free love. Although deeply in love, he felt no conscious desire for physical relations and he felt his love had been desecrated by physical contact.
• Marriage Plans & Family Objections: Russell faced strong opposition from his family regarding his relationship with Alys. His grandmother’s objections echoed those she had voiced against his father’s relationship. Russell disregarded his family’s concerns, relying on his inheritance of £20,000 from his father.
• Concerns About Heredity: There were concerns, based on medical opinion, about the couple having children due to heredity. Russell was initially willing to break off the engagement because he greatly desired children. Alys, however, did not have a strong wish for children.
• Paris: Russell accepted a position in Paris, partly to appease his grandmother, during which time Alys grew jealous of his interactions with her sister.
• Intimacy: Russell and Alys grew increasingly intimate, but his family continued their attempts to end the relationship.
• Sexuality: Neither Russell nor Alys had previous experience of sexual intercourse when they married.
• Differing Views on Sex: Alys believed that sex was beastly, that all women hated it, and that men’s brutal lusts were the chief obstacle to happiness in marriage. She believed intercourse should only take place when children were desired. Because they decided not to have children, she had to modify her position.
• Marriage: Russell shared his thoughts about his upcoming marriage. He felt a pure joy of mutual love, but also feared the terrible things life may bring to his wife.
• Travels: They spent the first three months of 1895 in Berlin, where Russell studied economics at the university and they attended concerts.
• End of the Relationship: Russell lost his instinctive sexual impulse toward Alys. He began to criticize her morally. He eventually confessed that he no longer wished to share a room. Despite the lack of attraction, Russell attempted sex with Alys twice a year to alleviate her misery.
• Separation: Those around them had noticed the waning affection in their relationship.

Other relationships

• Housemaid: Russell had kissed and hugged a housemaid and asked her to spend the night with him, but she refused.
• Sally Fairchild: Russell became very fond of Sally Fairchild, but he did not consider himself in love with her. He never kissed her hand.
• Lady Ottoline Morrell: Russell had intense feelings for Ottoline, and did not care what might be involved, even if her husband murdered them both. Their conditions were that they should never spend the night together.
• Girl from Chicago: While in America, he met a girl from Chicago, and they agreed to live together openly, perhaps marrying later on if a divorce could be obtained.
• Other Women: He wished to make love to another woman, but thought he ought to explain about Ottoline first.
• Friendship with Lucy Donnelly: Lucy suffered profoundly when Helen, a mutual friend, became engaged. Russell attempted to comfort her.

Views on Marriage and Love

• Russell believed that real life means a life in some kind of intimate relation to other human beings and emotions.
• He saw the ghastly competition in most marriages as to which partner is to be the torturer, which the tortured.
• Marriage as an institution was viewed as a social construct designed to fit instinct into a legal framework.
• Romantic love was viewed as love from a certain distance, sufficient to leave the romance untarnished.
• His grandmother thought the affection of husbands and wives was sometimes a little selfish.

Bertrand Russell: Philosophical Views and Development

Bertrand Russell’s philosophical views evolved throughout his life, encompassing a wide range of topics from metaphysics and ethics to logic and the philosophy of mathematics.

Early Influences and Development:

• Russell’s grandmother held an animus against metaphysics, considering the subject nonsensical.
• At a young age, Russell considered himself a materialist, believing that the human body is a machine.
• He read extensively, including Mill’s Political Economy and Logic, and initially accepted Mill’s views completely.
• He also read Herbert Spencer, agreeing with his bias but finding him too doctrinaire.
• Russell sought a reason for supposing mathematics to be true and found Mill’s arguments inadequate.
• He found the arguments in Mill’s Logic on this subject very inadequate.

Beliefs and Doubts:

• Russell once believed truth was a good thing to get hold of, but later developed doubts and uncertainty.
• He thought that a theological proposition should not be accepted unless supported by reason.
• He believed in God and considered himself a theist, seeking scientific arguments for his belief.
• He also explored the question of free will, considering arguments from the omnipotence of God, the reign of law, and the determination of actions by motives.

Ethics and Morality:

• Russell’s “rule of life” was to act in a manner most likely to produce the greatest happiness, considering both intensity and the number of people made happy.
• He saw primitive morality as originating in the idea of the preservation of the species, but did not believe a civilized community ought to follow this rule.
• He believed conscience is due to evolution, forming instincts of self-preservation.
• Russell thought it was a mistake to believe that general maxims are to be found in conscience.
• He thought the true method of Ethics should be inference from empirically ascertained facts, obtained in that moral laboratory which life offers to those whose eyes are open to it.
• Russell’s views on ethical subjects put him at odds with Gilbert Murray, who Russell observed was a utilitarian, whereas Russell judged pleasure and pain to be of small importance compared to knowledge, the appreciation and contemplation of beauty, and a certain intrinsic excellence of mind.
• He was critical of those who hate self-control and make up theories to prove that self-control is pernicious.
• He also believed the ethical faith which is warranted yields most of what is necessary to the highest life conceivable, and all that is necessary to the highest life that is possible.
• Russell was known to engage in arguments about ethics.

Metaphysics and Epistemology:

• Russell was interested in metaphysics.
• He found metaphysics interesting and enjoyed the curious ways of conceiving the world that the great philosophers offer to the imagination.
• Russell also believed that accident led him to read Leibniz, because he had to be lectured upon, and McTaggart wanted to go to New Zealand, so that the College asked him to take his place so far as this one course was concerned.
• In the study and criticism of Leibniz, Russell found occasion to examine the metaphysics of the subject-predicate form.
• He was interested to discover the dire effect upon metaphysics of the belief that all propositions are of the subject-predicate form.
• He thought it philosophically and practically erroneous to believe that philosophy tells us only what is, not what ought to be.
• Russell thought that to believe that our knowledge is caused by the object perceived depends upon the sensational theory of knowledge.
• He also thought that circumstances are apt to generate perfectly concrete moral convictions, which may make it impossible to judge beforehand what our moral opinion of a fact will be.
• Russell believed one’s work is never so bad as it appears on bad days, nor so good as it appears on good days.

Political and Social Views:

• Russell initially believed that land nationalization would secure all the benefits that Socialists hoped to obtain from Socialism.
• He was interested in politics and economics.

Logic and Mathematics:

• Russell’s most important work was in mathematical logic, which he initially pursued to find reason to believe mathematics was true.
• He found Continental work that addressed his mathematical questions after leaving Cambridge.
• He aimed at bringing discomfort to philosophers; one who favored his outlook might retort that while he pleased the philosophers, he amused the plain people.
• Russell imagined conversations with Leibniz, telling him how fruitful his ideas have proved, and how much more beautiful the result is than he could have foreseen.
• Russell translated the Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill into symbolism.
• Russell constructed Principia Mathematica to seek refuge in pure contemplation.
• He considered the solution he found to a puzzle involving George IV and Walter Scott threw a flood of light on the foundations of mathematics and on the whole problem of the relation of words to things.

Relationships with Other Philosophers:

• Moore influenced Russell to abandon both Kant and Hegel.
• Russell disagreed with Whitehead in philosophy, so collaboration was no longer possible.
• Russell found it a great bond to dislike the same things, and dislike is perhaps a deeper indication of our real nature than explicit affections, since the latter may be effects of circumstances, while dislike is a reaction against them.

Religion:

• Russell was opposed to Old Kant, who, in his eyes has done much harm and mischief to philosophy, even to mankind.
• He also thought there was no shred or particle of truth in any of the metaphysics it has suggested.

Bertrand Russell on War and Pacifism

Bertrand Russell’s experiences and views regarding war, particularly World War I, are detailed throughout the provided text.

Early Views and Influences:

• Russell’s grandmother was a “fierce Little Englander” who disapproved strongly of Colonial wars.
• She told him that the Zulu War was wicked and largely the fault of Sir Bartle Frere.

Shifting Views on War:

• Initially, Russell was a Liberal Imperialist and not a pro-Boer at the start of the Boer War.
• British defeats in the Boer War caused him anxiety.
• By early 1901, he became a pro-Boer.
• In 1901, Russell’s Imperialistic views evaporated during a crisis.

World War I and Pacifism:

• At the beginning of the 1914-1918 War, Crompton was solicitor to the Post Office, but his agreement with his wife’s Irish Nationalist opinions made his position untenable, and he was dismissed.
• Russell began his opposition to World War I at the earliest possible moment.
• His attitude during the First World War was influenced by a sort of mystic illumination that remained with him.
• Russell felt that heroic and almost hopeless defiance appeared splendid.
• Russell was against the war although the old Adam wanted the latter.
• Opposition to the Entente: He stated his objections to the policy of the Entente, pointing out the likelihood of it leading to war.
• He found Amery’s blood-lust at the thought of a war with America shocking.
• Russell was preparing to go to jail to protest Britain’s involvement in World War I.
• During the war, Russell found that intellectual honesty had its limitations, even at Cambridge, which he regarded as home.
• Impact on Personal Relationships: Whitehead completely disagreed with Russell’s pacifist position during the First World War, which caused a diminution in their friendship.
• In the last months of the war, Whitehead’s younger son was killed, which caused him appalling grief and had a great deal to do with turning his thoughts to philosophy.
• The shock of the war killed Russell’s passion for a girl from Chicago, and he broke her heart.

Motivations and Beliefs:

• He was deeply moved by the suffering of others.
• Russell’s pacifism seemed to have a connection with alcohol.
• He was against the war and thought it could not be justified unless there was a likelihood of victory.
• Russell believed that a war could not be justified unless there was a likelihood of victory.

Post-War Reflections:

• After the war, Russell did not go back to Italy until 1949 because Mussolini sent word that any Italian who spoke to him should be assassinated.
• He was invited to give the Lowell lectures in Boston during the spring of 1914, and concurrently to act as temporary professor of philosophy at Harvard.
• He traveled straight from New York to Boston and was made to feel at home in the train by the fact that his two neighbors were reading detective stories.

By Amjad Izhar
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https://amjadizhar.blog

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