03/11/2024
The beginning of wisdom…
“The universe is what it is, not what I choose that it should be. If it is indifferent to human desires, as it seems to be; if human life is a passing episode, hardly noticeable in the vastness of cosmic processes; if there is no superhuman purpose, and no hope of ultimate salvation, it is better to know and acknowledge this truth than to endeavor, in futile self-assertion, to order the universe to be what we find comfortable.”
— Bertrand Russell, Understanding History (1943), Ch. II: The Value of Free Thought, p. 52
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Image: Bertrand Russell (1963) by Richard Avedon (1923- 2004) a well known and respected American fashion and portrait photographer.
Almost a century before freethinkers and atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens there was Bertrand Russell. Russell was a passionate philosopher and mathematician who was outraged by what he considered humankind's irrational beliefs and needless cruelties. Russell's great success can be partly explained that he wrote and spoke to be understood. Russell's clarity of expression reflects the clarity of his thought. Unlike many philosophers, Russell is well-known for his lucid and elegant prose style. In his philosophical works, there is little abstract jargon nor do we find many flowery expressions. Russell valued getting to the point. Bertrand Russell helped open the door to the demystification of religion, writing in plain language at a time when people had been told for centuries that serious discussions about the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God required a detailed knowledge of the Bible, the Quran, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Church history, theology, etc.
Russell believed none of this:
”Those who say that God is beyond the human mind profess to know a great deal about God. They do not really mean God is beyond comprehension, only partly beyond comprehension. And generally they mean that He is beyond the comprehension of your mind and not beyond the comprehension of theirs.”
— Bertrand Russell, The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, paper 35, volume 10
Not only was Russell was critical of the particular Abrahamic deity, but in all religious and dogmatic belief. Russell continues:
“I think all the great religions of the world—Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Communism—all untrue and harmful. It is evident as a matter of logic that, since they disagree, not more than one of them can be true. With very few exceptions, the religion which a man accepts is that of the community in which he lives, which makes it obvious that the influence of environment is what has led him to accept the religion in question.“
— Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (1957), Preface. xxii
Russell would die from a strain of influenza at his home on the night of 2 February 1970. He was 97 years old. His ashes were scattered over the Welsh hills in unknown locations. In accordance with his will, there was no religious ceremony but one minute's silence, with only five people present (the number five being Russell's favorite number).
Concerning an Afterlife, Russell said in a 1959 interview CBC TV titled On the Existence of God & the Afterlife:
Question: “As you approach the end of life, do you have any fear of some kind of afterlife, or do you feel that is just …“
Russell's Answer: “Oh, no, I think that’s nonsense.“
Question: “There is no afterlife?“
Russell's Answer: “NONE WHATEVER.“
“To understand the actual world as it is, not as we should wish it to be, is the beginning of wisdom.“
— Bertrand Russell
