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1. Political Ideals
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2. The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism
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3. The Problems of Philosophy

1. Political Ideals
by Bertrand Arthur William 3rd, Earl, 1872-1970 Russell
Kindle Edition: Pages (2003-12-01)
list price: US$0.99 -- used & new: US$0.99
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: B000JQUKXC
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Editorial Review

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
Yet law and order are always hostile to innovations, and innovators are almost always, to some extent, anarchists. Those whose minds are dominated by fear of a relapse towards barbarism will emphasize the importance of law and order, while those who are inspired by the hope of an advance towards civilization will usually be more conscious of the need of individual initiative. Both temperaments are necessary, and wisdom lies in allowing each to operate freely where it is beneficent. But those who are on the side of law and order, since they are reinforced by custom and the instinct for upholding the status quo , have no need of a reasoned defense. ... Read more


2. The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism
by Bertrand Arthur William 3rd, Earl, 1872-1970 Russell
Kindle Edition: Pages (2005-12-19)
list price: US$0.99 -- used & new: US$0.99
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Asin: B000JQU4OM
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars History in the Making
This is not a history book. Rather, this book is history. The author wrote what is now a time capsule forever poised on the breaking edge of world events. The year was 1920. The Russian Revolution--despite huge difficulties due to World War I and, following that, attacks from the Western powers--was triumphant. Russell went to Moscow as a huge VIP, a world-famous mathematician/philosopher who believed in Socialism and Communism. Further, he considered capitalism both evil and doomed...And yet, and yet, as we'll see, Bolshevism was for Russell a step too far.

Russell had one of the best minds of the century. Writing this book, he was 48, at the height of his powers. It is altogether delightful to travel through history with a tip-top intelligence. Russell is rigorous, careful, precise, decent, and highly educated. He waltzes gracefully from point to point, fact to fact, deduction to deduction. Remember, he is in the very crucible of history, trying to make sense of events even as they unfold outside his window. I believe an entire college course could be made from this short book. Of course, students would have to read lots of additional material to run along side Russell and evaluate all the arresting things he says, for example: "Bolshevism combines the characteristics of the French Revolution with those of the rise of Islam; and the result is something radically new, which can only be understood by a patient and passionate effort of imagination."

Students taking such a course would understand what so many American intellectuals, all through the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's, did not. Blinded by their love of Communism and their hatred of the West, they consistently aided and abetted what was the very definition of an evil government, the USSR under Stalin. Russell's mind is more subtle and sinuous. He wants a better world but sees that the Bolsheviks are willing to destroy everything to get it; but then it's not better, it's only rubble and death. Writing in 1920, when Lenin was in total control and Stalin was a minor figure, Russell nonetheless saw everything that was coming. He dissects the fanaticism, the many ways in which Bolshevism functions as a religion and its adherents become murderous ideologues.

Russell writes, with sadness but also alarm: "While some forms of Socialism are immeasurably better than capitalism, others are even worse. Among those that are worse, I reckon the form which is being achieved in Russia, not only in itself, but as a more insuperable barrier to further progress."

Aside: I ordered this book because I knew that Russell spent an hour with Lenin, a figure I wanted to know more about. Russell noted a cruel streak; for example, Lenin "described the division between rich and poor peasants, and the Government propaganda among the latter against the former, leading to acts of violence which he seemed to find amusing." This at a time when the country could not feed itself! I'm intrigued by cold-hearted intellectuals who think nothing of leveling what civilization there is in order to build their brave new worlds. Let us never forget Pol Pot who went back to Cambodia and killed 25% of his own country. In the field I mostly write about, education, there's our own John Dewey, who set out to dumb down an entire country so he could build his version of socialism. Lenin was a tough guy relative to the professorial Dewey, but I detect the same megalomania in both men. ... Read more


3. The Problems of Philosophy
by Bertrand Arthur William 3rd, Earl, 1872-1970 Russell
Kindle Edition: Pages (2004-06-01)
list price: US$0.99 -- used & new: US$0.99
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: B000JQUFSM
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan
Editorial Review

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
IN this chapter we have to ask ourselves whether, in any sense at all, there is such a thing as matter. Is there a table which has a certain intrinsic nature, and continues to exist when I am not looking, or is the table merely a product of my imagination, a dream-table in a very prolonged dream? This question is of the greatest importance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

5-0 out of 5 stars Nice overview
This was a really nice overview of various topics for a course I have.It's very concise and well organized and is written in language that is easy to understand.

5-0 out of 5 stars Exceptional insight
Bertrand Russell is one of my favorite philosophers to read and this book was the one that started it all. Russell's analysis of man's epistemological limitations is truly enlightening. A theory of everything, origin of the universe, teleology- concepts that have galvanized human beings for ages are extrapolated from a new perspective by Russell.
The first few chapters that explain data processing by the human mind, perceptions and reality as experienced by the senses is of utmost importance to truly understand what Russell is saying. Lucid imagery and explanations are abundant in Russell's prose.
By the time I was done with this book, I was left wondering if the title 'Problems with human perception' would have been more appropriate.

5-0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction
This book is a model of exposition, covering an amazing amount of ground in just over 150 pages - and the excellent writing makes it seem even shorter than that. It is not really a standard introduction to all of philosophy, however, since it deals mainly with questions of epistemology. But as an introduction to that branch of philosophy, it is definitely one of the best. Among other things, it includes Russell's famous chapter "On Induction", criticisms of idealism, of Kant, and (perhaps surprisingly) of empiricism, and a defense of the correspondence theory of truth.

The five star rating does not mean that I agree with everything in it, however. Russell himself came to disagree with much of what he said in this book (e.g., with respect to his views on universals). But in spite of being somewhat dated, it is definitely worthwhile, especially for the beginning student.

5-0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Russell does an amazing job of dissecting philosophy and getting to squishy center and practical basis that let's us attempt to understand the world. It's very easy to read and enjoyable. And despite being written in 1912, it reads like it was written yesterday (other then a few anachronisms, here and there).

The only downside is that, obviously, it doesn't say much about philosophical developments in the 20th century.

Still, it's a fantastic and easy to understand book, and everyone who can read should read it.

4-0 out of 5 stars The Problems of Philosophy
This book is compulsory reading to anyone studying Philosphy, it is written in such a style as to take away the mysteke normally associated with the subject. Anyone can read this book and gain an understanding.
Dr. Wallace Devlin, Ph.D ... Read more


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