Russell on Religion: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell

Front Cover
Psychology Press, 1999 - Philosophy - 261 pages

Russell on Religion presents a comprehensive and accessible selection of Bertrand Russell's writing on religion and related topics from the turn of the century to the end of his life. The influence of religion pervades almost all Bertrand Russell's writings from his mathematical treatises to his early fiction. Russell contends with religion as a philosopher, as a historian, as a social critic and as a private individual. The papers in this volume are arranged chronologically for optimum coherence of the development of Russell's thinking and are divided into five main sections:

* Personal statements
* Religion and Philosophy
* Religion and Science
* Religion and Morality
* Religion and History.

Students at all levels will find this a valuable insight into Russell's thought on religion.

 

Contents

PART I
11
Personal statements
19
PART II
51
PART III
107
Science and Religion
131
Review of Sir Arthur Eddington The Nature of
140
Do Science and Religion Conflict?
147
Religion and the Churches
153
The Sense of Sin
186
PART V
195
The Religious Development of the Jews
203
Christianity During the First Four Centuries
219
Mohammedan Culture and Philosophy
229
The Reformation and CounterReformation
238
Selected bibliography
247
Copyright

Inherent Tendencies of Industrialism
167

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About the author (1999)

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic. He was best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. Together with G.E. Moore, Russell is generally recognized as one of the main founders of modern analytic philosophy. Together with Kurt Gödel, he is regularly credited with being one of the most important logicians of the twentieth century. Over the course of a long career, Russell also made contributions to a broad range of subjects, including the history of ideas, ethics, political and educational theory, and religious studies. General readers have benefited from his many popular writings on a wide variety of topics. After a life marked by controversy--including dismissals from both Trinity College, Cambridge, and City College, New York--Russell was awarded the Order of Merit in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Noted also for his many spirited anti-nuclear protests and for his campaign against western involvement in the Vietnam War, Russell remained a prominent public figure until his death at the age of 97.

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