Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... Understanding History and Other Essays (1957)di Bertrand Russell
Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Originally written in 1943 and published in 1957 by Philosophical Library, Inc, these vigorous essays from one of the most distinguished minds of our time reveal several facets of the English philosopher's thought. The title piece exposes the deadliness of the academic approach to the past, and shows how the reading of history can be a vivid intellectual pleasure. In "The Value of Free Thought," Russell once again proves himself a ruthless foe of stifling orthodoxy and a fearless champion of free thought, free action and free speech. Then in a series of articles on a subject near to his heart, Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... VotoMedia:
Sei tu?Diventa un autore di LibraryThing. |
My subject is history as a pleasure, as an agreeable and profitable way of spending leisure as an exacting world may permit
For Russell, history can be divided into two types: history in the large and history in the small
History in the large helps us to understand how the world developed into what it is; history in the small makes us know interesting men and women, and promotes a knowledge of human nature
Russell seems to give little credence to history in the large which he claims is
actuated by a desire to demonstrate some “philosophy” of history; they think they have discovered some formula according to which human events develop
It is history of the small that Russell seems to consider the proper purpose of history- the story of great men of genius who, according to him, are responsible for progress. And it is clear that, when he talks about men of genius he means men and mostly men of western civilization. Women and people of other civilizations factor little in his history and, when they do, not favourably.
Written in 1943, this essay gives an interesting account of what one of the most prominent philosophers of the first half of the 20th c thought about history and its study. His attitudes about women and race are, perhaps surprisingly (or maybe not) not that unusual for the time period.
There have been criticism of this essay that it clearly demonstrates Russell’s belief in Eugenics. That he did is also perhaps not surprising given the influence of Eugenics on the ‘great men of genius’ of the times whether in science, education, or government including fascist governments. It was one of the prevailing ‘scientific’ theories of the early 20th c., influencing not only the Nazis but Margaret Singer and her philosophy of planned parenthood and the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment among other things and Russell, despite his own genius, was a product of his time. It should be noted that, in later years, he would become a vocal critic of Eugenics.
It has always been my understanding of history that it is, at its most basic level, the recorded account of mankind’s past or, to quote Edward Hallet Carr, it is ‘a dialogue between the present and the past’. It is, simply put, the story of us since we first put stylus to papyrus and said ‘we were here’. As such, I am not sure I would recommend Understanding History as an introduction to understanding history; I would, however, recommend it to anyone interested to understand the attitudes of the time towards race and gender as espoused by one of the greatest men of genius of the time. ( )