BERTRAND RUSSEL.

 Bertrand Russell was brilliant and he was a philosopher as well as a mathematician. As a philosopher he changed his ideas repeatedly and hence was criticized by some. But Russell is an evolving philosopher and was always ready to change his ideas with experience. That means he did not let any particular philosophy to chain him and can therefore be called a roving philosopher. Russell married 4 times, his 4^th marriage being at 81 years of age.

Bertrand Russell or Bertrand Arthur William Russell was born in 1872 into a most famous British family that has given statesmen to Britain for generations. His grandfather Lord John Russell belonged to the Liberal party and was twice Prime Minister of Britain and was the originator of parliamentary reforms. His father Earl Russell or Viscount Amberly was also a member of the Liberal party. Bertrand was his 2^nd son.

His mother died when he was in his 2^nd year, and after another one and half years, his father too died. Before dying his father willed that Bertrand should be raised away from religious beliefs and near to liberal and modern ideas, but the courts struck down that will. Betrand and his elder brother were raised by their grandmother and she raised them with strict discipline and puritanical ideas.

Bertrand never went to school when he was of age and he was tutored at home. Although he was raised in orthodox tradition, he did not take to it. At the age of 11 years itself Bertrand lost his belief in religion. He felt that due to religion and mysticism the world has to face many problems. He started worshipping mathematics when he was very young. Mathematics, Logic & Science became his Gods.

Socrates never believed anything because someone said it. He always wanted to investigate before he believed something. Same is the case with Bertrand. He wanted to question everything and was never ready to believe anything until he is convinced.

In his 18^th year he joined the Trinity College, Cambridge. Everyone recognized his brilliance there itself. In 1893 he passed the mathematics honors examination in the 1^st class. Then he took Philosophy as a major and graduated in 1894.

The British philosophers took the philosophies of Francis Bacon, Jack Hobbes, John Locke, George Berkely & David Hume as their foundation. Their bent was towards Empiricism. But Bertrand Russell worshipped Kant & Hegel whose bent was towards Idealism. However, his fascination with Idealism did not last long and ultimately he rebelled against Idealism and embraced Positivism. Positivism is a philosophy that only accepts that which is scientifically verifiable and is capable of logical or mathematical proof. It therefore rejects theism and metaphysics.

A criticism against Bertrand Russell was that he changes his ideas too frequently and comes forth with a new philosophy each time. The fact is Bertrand is an evolving philosopher. He did not stick hard to any particular philosophical idea and was ready to accept change with time.

He married Alys Pearsall Smith of Philadelphia in 1894 whom he divorced in 1911. His favorite subject was Mathematics. He felt there is not just truth but also beauty in it. In 1900 he wrote the book “Philosophy of Leibnitz” which brought him fame in the philosophical circles.

In 1903 he wrote “The Principles of Mathematics”. In the book he proposed that there is no difference between Mathematics and Logic. He said that the principles we use for logic also apply to mathematics and therefore he said the both are same.

The book which brought him great fame and was a glittering diamond amongst all his writings was “Principia Mathematica” . He wrote it in 3 volumes along with his erstwhile guru A.N.Whitehead in 1910,1912 & 1913. It is said that the work exerted immense influence on the European logic and mathematics.

In 1907 Russell contested for the Parliament demanding voting rights to women (at that time the women in England did not have voting rights) and was defeated.

He was a pacifist to the core and was a liberal. From around 1910 he became very much against war and became a Pacifist. When the 1st world war broke out in 1914 he was very much against the war and said that even if it lost the empire Britain should not go to war. This stand lost him his job at the Trinity College.

In 1916 Russell joined the No Conscription Fellowship and campaigned against war. The government prosecuted him and the court fined him 100 pounds. In 1918 he was sentenced to 6 months in prison. In the jail Russell wrote his “Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy” .

In 1914 itself he left the Liberal party and joined the Labour party and he had leftist leanings. He came to the conclusion that property is the root of all ills in society. The solution for that is socialism and communism. Russell concurred with the French Anarchist Proudhon that Property is theft. By violence and theft property is got, and to guard this property a state is formed. Therefore, the government, by nature is violent. Governance is to be done by Syndicates and Cooperatives. In an industry, the workers themselves have to administer. Land should not be assumed as personal property.

However, these ideas did not stick to him for long. In 1920 he toured the Soviet Union as a member of the labor party. He did not like what he saw. After coming back he wrote a book “Practice and Theory of Bolshevism” in which he severely criticized communism. He was basically a liberal and that thought could not be suppressed by him.

These twists and turns in his philosophical views only reflect his seeking of a better system. He felt Liberalism and Parliamentary democracy could not answer his feelings and sought them in communism only to be disillusioned and realize the truth later. Thus he is an evolving philosopher who was unafraid to experiment and then go back on to his original beliefs when the situation warranted so.

He was dead against war but he modified his belief in the 2^nd world war because he felt Nazism was worse than even war.

After his tour of the Soviet Union in 1921 he went to China with a woman called Dora Black whom he married after the trip. Along with her he run an experimental school for 4-11 year old kids. He felt they should be given full freedom but they should still be brought up with discipline. They have to take food and bath together. They should run naked and should be taught ethical behavior since childhood. This experiment did not succeed and Russell divorced Dora Black in 1935. He then married Patricia Spence in 1936.

In 1931 his elder brother died and he became heir to the title of Earl and also the estate. However, he is against inheritance and always felt that man should work had and make his own living. In 1939 he was invited to join the City College of New York as a Professor. However, a person who was against his ideas filed a suit challenging his appointment. In 1929 in his book named “Marriage and Morals” he wrote that in a marriage the couple should have the freedom to have sex outside the marriage. Looking to this the court annulled his appointment. In 1944 Russell returned back to his country Britain and joined the Trinity College as a Professor. In 1950 he received the Nobel prize for literature.

In 1952 he divorced his 3^rd wife Patricia Spence at the age of 81 and married an American Edith Finch.

He was interested in international politics. He resented the cold war between Russia and the Soviet Union. He joined all the Nobel laureates against nuclear power and protested. In 1960 he constituted a 100 member delegation asking to ban Nuclear tests and protested in front of the Parliament. He was arrested by the Government along with his 4^th wife. He was then 90 years old and due to ill health the couple was released by the government after 1 week.

Till he met his end, he went on fighting for world peace, disarmament, ban on nuclear tests, cooperation between countries etc. He voiced his feelings on the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and India China war etc. He opposed America in the Vietnam war right from the beginning. In protest against the British governments policy on the Vietnam war he resigned from the Labour party and set up a “Vietnam war criminals Tribunal” along with Jean Paul Sartre.

Russell started off as a philosopher and for him logic, mathematics and philosophy was his life. Then he realized that any science or art which does not address human suffering and pain is a waste. Then he changed his track and devoted his life to both philosophy and human welfare. Ultimately he  died in 1970 aged 98.