In Praise of Idleness and Other EssaysIntolerance and bigotry lie at the heart of all human suffering. So claims Bertrand Russell at the outset of In Praise of Idleness , a collection of essays in which he espouses the virtues of cool reflection and free enquiry; a voice of calm in a world of maddening unreason. From a devastating critique of the ancestry of fascism to a vehement defence of 'useless' knowledge, with consideration given to everything from insect pests to the human soul, this is a tour de force that only Bertrand Russell could perform. |
Contents
Architecture and Social Questions | 28 |
Scylla and Charybdis or Communism and Fascism | 72 |
7 | 74 |
Western Civilisation | 107 |
On Comets | 157 |
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achieved acquired activities adult Alfred North Whitehead Allies America architecture become believe Bertrand Russell body cause century child Christianity comets Communists considered countries course cult of unreason death democracy desire doctrine economic England enjoy essay Europe existence fact Fascism fear feel Fichte force freedom German gold Greeks happiness Houston Chamberlain human important impulses increase individual industry intellectual interests invented Karel Capek kind knowledge labour land of Goshen leisure less live matter means ment mental methods modern world moral motive nations natural necessary nursery school organisation philosophy pleasure plutocracy political population possible Praise of Idleness present produce profit realise reason regard régime religion result rich Robinson Crusoe Russell's Russia secure Socialism Socialist sort stoicism supposed theory things thought tion traditional Treaty of Versailles true truth universal wage-earners Western civilisation whole women young