Russell

Justin Schwartz jkschw at hotmail.com
Mon Apr 8 07:40:44 PDT 2002



>
>Was Russell a shit? I think his politics were certainly reactionary in
>the early years (like advocating the use of the atomic bomb against the
>USSR), if somewhat archly liberal (to 'save the system' from its
>critics, like Keynes). But I've often thought that the personal case
>against Russell was not so strong, and mostly made up by jealous
>relatives taking advantage of the contemporary appetite for
>anti-biography.

Oh, he was a charming creep, screwed everything in skirts, treated women like garbage, was personally as chilly and selfish as you could fear. (Einstein was apparantly like thsi too.) I wasn't talking about his politics, which were mostly quite sound, with a few lapses. His early reaction to the bomb was off base, but he got back on track very quickly, helped to found CND, where _I_ got my political start.
>
>Justin did not mention Ayer, who really was lacking an inner-life, to
>judge by the recent biog by Ben Rogers.

Maybe, but his own autobio, Part of My Life, is charming.


>
>For analytical Justin, can I recommend Robin Collingwood's Autobiography
>as one of the more humane of philosophers, and a Hegelian to boot.

A lovely book, I haven't raed it since college, but liked it then.

jks

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