Bertrand Russell was born in 1872 and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he is a Fellow. In 1910 he published with Dr A. N. Whitehead the first volume of Principia Mathematica, a landmark in the history of mathematics, and in 1914 his reputation in philosophical circles was greatly increased by Our Knowledge of the External World. He published in 1917 his Principles of Social Reconstruction, and Mysticism and Logic appeared in 1918 and later became a Pelican.
Between the two world wars his output was prolific in many fields. In 1931 he succeeded his brother as the third Earl Russell, and at the beginning of 1941 he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, for three years. Possibly the crowning achievement of his life’s work has been A History of Western Philosophy (1946). In 1949 he published the first Reith Lectures, Authority and the Individual, and in 1952 The Impact of Science on Society.
Bertrand Russell is an active campaigner for nuclear dis-armament. He is an F.R.S., and was awarded the O.M. in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
photo by Yousuf Karsh // A man of many talents, Lord Bertrand Russell was a social critic, historian, political activist, mathematician and writer who was awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature // source: https://karsh.org
“A deliciously Voltairean irony”
- John O’London’s
In his Book “Nightmares of Eminent Persons and other stories” Bertrand Russell displays the very revealing nature of Nightmares, as he says they represent peoples fears that their dominant passion will not be fulfilled. So by taking a diverse group of people as Stalin, Eisenhower, Dean Aches, The Queen of Sheba, and Dr Bowdler and other anonymous people mentioned including a mathematician, psycho-analyst, meta-physician and existentialist their nightmares would tell us a lot about human nature.
While this is a short read spanning around 174 pages, I really did take my time on reading it. Since I have not read any of Bertrand Russell’s more serious works dare I say this was just the introduction I needed. And upon further research I was able to conclude that of all his works that this is his most approachable text.
The short stories span over to cover a multitude of questions revolving around rhetoric, politics, power, greed and human nature above all. In the exploration on nightmares we get a respective night mare to each known individuals and what their fears and deepest desire constitute of and how each of those if we paid attention we can even notice in our Nightmares. The collection of the nightmares are just fun and quick bites which made it ideal for me to read them anywhere at anytime but beware some go deep in the irony and pun that you might find yourself maniacally smiling and in public or out right chuckling.
The other two stories in this book mix to the satire, Zahatopolk and Faith and Mountains, deal with the themes of religion, history, Understanding which are the things that define us as human beings and a lot of whimsy irony where I found myself smiling every now and then. Russell believes that knowledge is always suspect; but most men do not suspect this when applying knowledge to problems, in doing so he delves down to explore that in this short and enjoyable fictional (or not so fictional ) stories.
I the whole ride this book had to offer and at times even got me wondering, but I do for certain know there are going to be insider jokes and references I will make in my conversation to come.
Some Quotes I picked up throughout the book
I don’t know exactly what one ought to call love
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so
But I choose to live the sane world, the world of earnest men who perform recognized duties without doubt and without question, who never look beneath the surface for fear of what they might see, who honor their fathers and their mothers and repeat the crimes by which their father and their mother flourished, who uphold the state without asking whether it deserves to be upheld, and piously worship a God whom they have made in their own image, and who subscribe to no lies unless it further interests of the strong
Though I call upon St. Freud, it is in vain
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Nothing is so real as pain
It is not by pure reason that men are governed
Ah, how hard is the life of reason
If that so, it would take more breath than i can spare to make you understand
If your interested in checking out the stories for yourself and don’t know where to get them, the books is available on the Internet Archive : Nightmares Of Eminent Persons And Other Stories : Russell, Bertrand : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive