Description
Book SynopsisâI have come to think that one of the main causes of trouble in the world is dogmatic and fanatical belief in some doctrine for which there is no adequate evidence.â â Bertrand Russell, Portraits from Memory
Portraits from Memory is one of Bertrand Russellâs most self-reflective and engaging books. Whilst not intended as an autobiography, it is a vivid recollection of some of his celebrated contemporaries, such as George Bernard Shaw, Sidney and Beatrice Webb and D. H. Lawrence. Russell provides some arresting and sometimes amusing insights into writers with whom he corresponded. He was fascinated by Joseph Conrad, with whom he formed a strong emotional bond, writing that his Heart of Darkness was not just a story but an expression of Conradâs âphilosophy of lifeâ. There are also some typically pithy Russellian observations; H. G. Wells âderived his importance from quantity rather than qualityâ, whilst after a brief and fraught friendship Russell thought D. H. Lawrence âhad no real wish to make the world better, but only to indulge in eloquent soliloquy about how bad it wasâ.
This engaging book also includes some of Russellâs customary razor-sharp essays on a rich array of subjects, from his ardent pacifism, liberal politics and morality to the ethics of education, the skills of good writing and how he came to philosophy as a young man. These include âA Plea for Clear Thinkingâ, âA Philosophy for Our Timeâ and âHow I Writeâ.
Portraits from Memory is Russell at his best and will enthrall those new to Russell as well as those already well-acquainted with his work.
This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by the Russell scholar Nicholas Griffin, editor of The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell.
Table of ContentsForeword to the Routledge Classics Edition Nicholas Griffin 1. Adaptation: An Autobiographical Epitome 2. Six Autobiographical Talks 3. How to Grow Old 4. Reflections on my Eightieth Birthday 5. Portraits from Memory 6. Lord John Russell 7. John Stuart Mill 8. Mind and Matter 9. The Cult of "Common Usage" 10. Knowledge and Wisdom 11. A Philosophy for Our Time 12. A Plea for Clear Thinking 13. History as an Art 14. How I Write 15. The Road to Happiness 16. Symptoms of Orwell's 1984 17. Why I am Not a Communist 18. Man's Peril 19. Steps Towards Peace. Index
