Bertrand Russell (full name: Bertrand Arthur William Russell) was a British Logician, philosopher, historian, mathematician, essayist, writer, political activist, social critic, and Nobel laureate. Russell regarded himself as a socialist, pacifist, and social activist; however, he was highly skeptical, and his and this skeptical nature led him to think that in a profound sense, he had never been any one of these.
In the early decades of the 20th century, Russell initiated and directed the revolt against idealism in the English language. He has also founded the analytical philosophy with his protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein, colleague G. E. Moore, and predecessor Gottlob Frege. He is regarded as a premier logician of the 20th century. He wrote Principia Mathematica with A. N. Whitehead. In the book, they tried to create a rational basis for a mathematician. He wrote the philosophical essay “On Denoting,” which is regarded as a paradigm of philosophy.
He was a leading anti-war activist and also supported anti-imperialism. He also advocated preventive nuclear power occasionally. His pacifism caused him to go to prison during world war I. However, he later gave the statement that it was necessary to declare war against Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. He also criticized Satanist totalitarianism and criticized the engrossment of the United States in the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 for his writings in which he supports humanitarian standards of freedom of expression and thought.
Bertrand Russell’s Short Biography
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russel, was born on 18th May 1872 in Monmouthshire, the United Kingdom to Katherine Louise and Viscount Amberley. He was born into a British aristocratic liberal family. In 1874, his mother, Katherine, died from diphtheria. In 1876, two years after his mother’s death, his father also died. Bertrand, his brother Frank and his sister Rachel started living with their Victorian grandparents.
In his teenage, Russell often suffered from spasms of seclusion and loneliness due to which he attempted suicide. He got education at home by different tutors and received no formal education from any institute. During the flourishing days of his life, he came across works of P.B. Shelley. He spent his teenage years studying Christianity deeply. When he received a scholarship, he started reading at Trinity College, Cambridge, for the mathematical Tripos. In 1890, he started studying at the same college.
Russell published his first book German Social Democracy in 1896. The book deals with the political study that shows Russell’s lifelong interest in social and political theory. In 1903, he published his first leading book on the logic of mathematics, The Principles of Mathematics. He also completed his essay “On Denoting” in 1905. However, it was published later in the philosophical journal. He also joined the Royal Society in 1908. He wrote Principia Mathematica with A. N. Whitehead, and in 1910, the first three volumes of the book were published.
During the period of World War I, Russell was among a few of the intellectuals who did not actively participate in the war. In 1916, he was expelled from Trinity College because of his views on the ‘Defense of the Realm Act.’ On BBC, Russell also participates in many broadcasts. Apart from his academic struggles, he also earned fame as the author of the newspaper and magazine articles. In 1945, he published his book A History of Western Philosophy; it soon became one of the best-sellers. Russell was presented the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 for his humanistic writings.
He was suffering from Influenza and died at his home in Wales on 2nd February 1970. He was buried on 5th February 1970 in Colwyn Bay. At his funeral, no religious ceremony was taken according to his will.
Bertrand Russell’s Literary Style
Bertrand Russell was basically a mathematician. He made a grand contribution to his subject by publishing his book Principia Mathematica in three volumes written in collaboration with Prof. Whitehead. The book is considered to be a landmark in the history of Mathematics. He has both mathematical and scientific skills that make him write and speak with great proficiency.
By all respects, Bertrand Russell is a prolific prose writer. He wrote abundant works. He is one of the prominent writers of the 20th century who wrote on the diverse subjects of human interest. He devoted his works to deal with the problems of philosophy, morality, ethics, social life, politics, economics, and many more. He greatly impressed the critics and readers with his literary qualities. He has rich knowledge, and his opinions are honest; there is hardly any issue or human subject that is not touched by Russell.
Russell writes systematically on his subjects under discussion. This method was quite successful. He communicated his ideas, wit, and power of writing in a unique, influential, and logical style. In the book, Conquest of Happiness, Russell talks about his method of writing by saying that whenever he was writing on a difficult subject, he thinks about it in great interest that he is capable of for hours and days.
The reference indicates that Russell focuses on the fluency of expression and clarity of thought. He always states clear thoughts in a pure, lucid, and transparent style. Therefore, not only his subject matter was transformed but also his mode of expression. His charming style was developed through his neatness of expressions and clarity of thought, thus leaves permanent imprints on the mind of the reader.
His writing is not ornamented with “jeweled phrases,” nor do his sentences have obscurity that makes the reader halt for aesthetic pleasure. He has an intellectually brilliant style. He can easily shrink the idea into a few words without losing clarity. His language is direct, lucid, and simple. The following are some of Russell’s stylistic features.
The Precise Usage of Words
The scientific inclination of Russell allows him to make the precise and exact usage of words in his writings. He uses rich, clear, transparent, and pure words. His writings have no obscurity of ambiguity. If there is any ambiguity, he clarifies it in the proceeding lines. He does not use irrelevant and excessive words, but he does not compromise on the richness of meaning.
Unity of Thoughts
Another salient of the style of Russell is the unity of thought. Being associated with the discipline of mathematics and logic, he mastered the principle of unity of thought. He begins his argument from a well-stated assumption and then proceeds to the logical conclusion step by step. His every essay is logical and the thoughts are developed continuously. The paragraphs are interconnected with each other. There is coherence in his arguments. He states the conclusion at the end of the essay is a brief summary of his thoughts he has expressed in the essay.
Elongated Sentences
To maintain the unity of thought, Russell uses elongated, lengthy, and elaborated sentences. With the use of elongated sentences, he does not allow it to affect the fluency of thought and writing. His thoughts are fluent, coherent, and rhythmic from the start to end. The style of Russell provides him with the medium through which his expression of thought is smooth. His writing is dull and boring and relished the readers with its sweetness.
Simplicity of Language
Russell never used Pompous and Bombastic language. He insists on using simple and effective sentences. He does not excessively use the synonymous words that make the sentences tasteless and boring. It is due to the simplicity of his employed language that makes his writing pleasant and sweet not dull and boring. His style is simple but convincing and strikes with the interest of readers. Though the subject matter, his deals within his essays are very difficult; however, his simple mode expression makes it easy for the reader even a layman can understand what he is trying to convince. He is aware of the fact that the complexity of expression may cause ambiguity. His opening lines in the essay are so articulate.
“Of all the institutions that have come down to us from the past, none is so disorganized and derailed as the family.”
“Happiness depends partly upon external circumstances and partly upon oneself.”
Seriousness
The writing of Russell preserves the seriousness of the subject and does not have any personal emotional effect. He was one of the greatest humanists of the 20th century. He deeply felt the suffering and problems of humanity. He talked about the practical philosophy of human life in his essays. He was not a dogmatic preacher. He has broadmindedness, intellectual Vision, and impersonal attitude to the problems of humanity. These qualities made him a high profile, a sober and prolific writer. His style is made effective and heart-felt with his profound outlook on life. He was a completely anti-war activist and was aware of the impact of these wars on human lives and talks about it in his writings. He also focuses on the weaknesses of man. He not only talked about them but also thought about their solutions. The seriousness and sincerity of his style is depicted in his essay “Future of Mankind.”
Humor and Satire
No matter how significant the subject is, a seriousness of discussion makes the piece of work dull and boring. Though the style and subject matter both of Russell have high seriousness, it is also marked with humor, cheerfulness and satire. His writing has a humorous touch with intellectual and scholarly style. However, his humor is not overboard and outrageous. By the employment of humor and satire, he does not make his writing disgusting; it continues to appear lively and optimistic. His humor has a function of reformation. He does not only indent to pinpoint the follies of humans but also provide solutions for it and hope for future development.
Decorative Style
Russell’s style is generally known for its brevity and clarity, however, Russell can also write an embellished and florid language to show that he also has artistic command on writing. An example of his flowery and ornate/decorative style is his essay “The Free man’s Worship” published in his book Mysticism and Logic. The essay is proof that he also has artistic command on the language with nice taste.
Though many of his works are argumentative and thoughtful in nature, the clarity and unity of his thought are ruined with it. He pours out the unity of thoughts with harmony and symmetry, thus makes his expression chaste, weighty, and descriptive. Russell’s autobiography is an excellent example of his descriptive style. He describes the history of his life and narrates it in a simple, attractive, and appealing manner. The readers read it with great interest.
Lack of Symbolism
In Russell’s writing, there is no metaphorical and symbolic language. It is said previously that he has a simple and clear style and does not leave any ambiguity or obscurity in his ideas and writing both. Russell does not trouble his readers with complex symbols and metaphors and uses less complex language. Metaphors and similes for Russell are a matter of necessity, and they should only be used when there is a necessity.
Profundity in Thoughts
Russell expresses deep thoughts in simple language. He was a man with a scientific mood and also a deep thinker. His style has a depth and stream-like continuity and is full of deep thoughts that can be elaborated on in countless pages. His many sentences appear to be proverbs having deep meanings. For example:
“Pride of a race is even more harmful than national pride.”
“One of the most powerful sources of false belief is envy.”
“Extreme hopes are born of extreme misery.”
Russell also used quotations from Shakespeare, Bible, Greek, and Roman writers and employed them in his writing in harmony with his thoughts. With phrases and quotations from the Bible makes his works sublime and style scholarly. He operates these allusions to make his ironical attacks effective.
Elegance
Elegance is another noticeable characteristic of his style. Russell has mastery in conveying philosophical and technical ideas to the readers in his expressive manner. He makes his ideas clear to the readers by taking great pains, but still, his style is simple, and the complexity of his ideas does not make it laborious.
His smooth, effortless, and impressive style is proof of his elegant style. His style is elegant and does not have any obscurity and ambiguity. He achieves this style by logical reasoning and by offering common examples to explain his ideas. For example, in his essay Unpopular Essay, he provides every thesis, every idea, every proposition, every suggestion, and every theory with relevant examples, analogies, and illustrations. He draws these examples either from everyday life or renowned facts of history. Following is the example from his essay An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish, advocating his view by referring to the recognized fact of the policy of the government that education which was made to make people able to read and write appears to be capable of serving other functions. It inculcates nonsense and unifies the people to generate collection enthusiasm. If every government of every world taught the same nonsense, there would be great harm, but unfortunately, every government has its own brand and this diversity is producing hatred between the followers of different beliefs.
Examples and Illustrations
The intellectual genius of Bertrand Russell can be seen in his illustration and abundance of examples he gives in his essays. Moreover, there are a lot of allusions in his essays. In the essay “The Future of Mankind,” he gives three examples to differentiate between the freedom that is absent in Russia but present in America. Russell gives a lot of examples in the essay “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish” to illustrate the idea of how centuries-old superficial beliefs have dominated the mind of a man.
Russell makes a statement in the essay “Ideas That Have Helped Mankind” that man by nature is good and evil and then explain this statement with references from the event of the holocaust in which the brutal German Nazi killed and badly treat the Jews, Russian’s order for the expulsion of Germans and American and British Attitude towards the German American children. All these are the real cases of instinctive evilness of man.
Russell never gives any statement with abstract ideas and philosophies. He always gives concrete examples. To illustrate his point, he also offers fables and parables. For example, in the essay, Ideas That have Harmed mankind, he gives the fable of cow grazing and then starts running away in fear of the passing train and also the fable of the bakers and the butchers.
Compressed Statements and Generalizations
Though Russell is known for his elongated sentences, he is also intellectually brilliant in writing the compressed and condensed statement and generalizing statement. These statements, most of the time, produce striking effects on the readers. Following are the random examples of Russell’s condensed and compressed sentences;
- Fear generates impulses of cruelty, and therefore promotes such superstitious beliefs as seem to justify cruelty. (“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish”)
- Change is scientific; progress is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy. (“Philosophy and Politics”)
- To the propagandist his pupils are potential soldiers in an army. (“The Functions of a Teacher”)
- Science is empirical, tentative, and undogmatic; all immutable dogma is unscientific. (“Philosophy and Politics”)
- Selfishness beyond a point, whether individual or national, is not wise. It may with luck succeed, but if it fails failure is terrible. (“Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind”)
Liberal Philosophy
Russell is a liberal in his philosophy. He does not have any prejudgments and personal likes and dislikes. He does not follow any trend. He is a philosopher who always preaches a scientific temper of mind; therefore he ceases to be narrow-minded in any sense. He has an open mind that takes in all the pervading issues of human welfare. In his book Unpopular Essays, he has expressed his views on a variety of topics such as economic, politics, ethics, psychology, morality, education, skepticism, science, civilization, communism, peace, war, government, and so many more. The style with which he handles these topics shows his liberal philosophy, catholic temper, and wide-ranging mind. His style is natural and does evolve from any doctrine or theory.