Quote Russell

The quote that is displayed at the top of this page stems from the work of Bertrand Russell, a British Philosopher. When it comes to content and philosophical influence he might not be the most important figure of the 20th century, though certainly a prominent one, he remains in my opinion the most admirable example of a ‘Bildung’ ideal. Which I want to sum up more or less as a pursuit of refinement and perfection of the self, however distant, difficult or impossible that might seem or be, by striving for the best possible knowledge humanity has to offer, on a wide variety of topics.

I think we can grant him to be an excellent example of such a project, even though I am quite sure he will have one or two arguments against my take on the matter. But I think the introduction Wiki gives would render me some support:

“Bertrand Russell….was an English philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, socialist, pacifist and social critic.”

Not only did he provide us with a vast literary output, as far as I know more than 70 books, 30.000 letters and several thousands of articles, he is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing writers I have ever come across. Very few of his books are hard to read, if any at all. And if they are, it’ll be because of the subject’s complexity, not the fact that he chose to formulate his sentences in the all too well known philosophical jargon.

Even though I have not read all of his work, he is the reason why I like philosophy. Not because of his peculiar image or the incredible output of work, but his style. He never chose to live the easy way, if that is taken to be earning money, settling down and eventually dying of boredom. He changed his mind often, but only when forced to do so by a persuasive arguments. Eventually this caused some problems, of which serving time in jail was one of the results.

Not that he couldn’t have chosen a different way to live his life. He came from ‘noble stock’, that is to say ‘aristocracy’. But his ancestry, the traditional religious beliefs of his family and money seem to have been of inferior importance to him. We only have to think about one of his most famous works: Why I am not a Christian. It sums up how he thinks and writes, maybe more than anything. It’s not complicated, but its rigorous logic with his knife-sharp arguments have made him one of the most famous atheists of all time. I should and I will recommend you to read this little book (or article, it’s not very long after all). You can do so without having to lift your ass from your chair, because it can be found on-line, free of charge, without running the risk of getting sued by the F.B.I.:

Link: Why I am not a Christian