This is my life, and I have found that people are worth living. If anyone gives me another chance at life, I will gladly accept this rare gift.
—Bertrand · Russell
On May 18, 1872, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, a famous thinker of the 20th century··· Arthur William Russell, was born into an aristocratic family in Manmozshire. In 1890, Russell was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he taught twice. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1908. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 and was awarded the Order of the United Kingdom. Russell not only made epoch-making contributions to philosophy, but his ideas also had a profound impact on the public sphere.
Human nature implies sin, and the world is often plagued by disasters, but Russell still believes that people are worth living. This is the meaning of Russell, he always reminds people to constantly reflect, to face up to their current life, and to unswervingly find their true self and be a real person.
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The four great desires of human nature
Russell's insight into human nature is incomparably profound, and if we divide thinkers into two types: one who says something profoundly, but says it in a frighteningly stupid way; A person who not only says something thought-provoking, but also says it in a wonderful way. Kant and Hegel belong to the former category, and their writings are profound but dull; Russell is of the latter type, and his writings are profound and beautiful.
Russell pointed out that human nature has four major desires: possessiveness, competition, vanity, and power.
"Possessiveness is an infinite motive. No matter how much you already have, you will still desire to possess more. "People are always not satisfied with what they already have, but force what is not yet their own, and there is no end to this. Complete contentment is an unattainable dream.
The desire to compete is an even more powerful motivation. The history of people has been full of civil wars caused by discord with each other. The competition is not just for possession, but more out of a vain passion.
Russell said, "One of the troubles with vanity is that the more you feed it, the more it swells, and the more you get talked about, the more you want to be talked about." "It is impossible to exaggerate the influence of vanity in a person's life, and once a person is occupied by vanity, then arrogance will follow, and eventually lose himself.
However, the most terrible thing is the lust for power, and power is the ultimate temptation. The lust for power is indeed the strongest motivation in the lives of important people, and they can never be satisfied without unlimited power. The catharsis of one's lust for power means that more people are driven, so it is "a very dangerous motive".
Desire can degrade people, but Russell also pointed out that desire is the driving force of human action, and if it is used wisely, people can improve themselves and create a new life.
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Small disasters come from stubbornness, and big disasters come from fanaticism
Throughout his life, Russell reminded people that the idea of "a panacea for all ills, a social revolution that would be the work of a nation" was a good idea, but it was just a dream. Because it turns out that it is the "noble" barbarism and fanatical beliefs that have brought the most and greatest disasters to mankind.
Russell had personally traveled to the Soviet Union, so his views on Soviet Russia at different times seem to be more valuable to us.
When the October Revolution first broke out, Russell's attitude was the same as that of most people, with both excitement and anticipation. He used his personal connections to inquire about the current situation in Soviet Russia from the United Kingdom ambassador in Petrograd, but he was too far away to get the point. In 1920, in order to observe the local situation as much as possible, Russell personally went to Russia and had a long talk with Lenin and others.
After experiencing the Soviets firsthand, Russell was like ice water, and his enthusiasm suddenly vanished. In Russia there was a "philosophy of struggle" that was incompatible with Russell's ideas. In Russell's view, there are two major fallacies in Russian theory: one is human and the other is theoretical.
The fallacy of human nature is the illusion that by preaching hatred, a good outcome can be brought about in the form of struggle, and that the world will be brought about by great chaos--- but without thinking that those who have developed the habit of hatred, once they have won, will be constantly looking for new targets of hatred.
The theoretical fallacy lies in their conviction that economic power is the only form of power that dominates, and that exploitation and oppression can be eliminated immediately if the state becomes the only capitalist. But what they don't realize is that this has only created a more terrifying authority—that all the power of life and death is entrusted to government officials.
And those who fall into both fallacies are bound to lose themselves and be swept up in the torrent of fanatical ideology. There are very few intellectuals like Russell who can see through the truth of Soviet Russia, which makes him feel even more lonely.
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The dignity of the individual is more important than the doctrines of all kinds
Russell could not tolerate being a fanatical superstitious. He is well aware that in a complex historical situation, no one can once and for all be placed in the world of reason, truth and light, and relegate the opponent to the other side of ignorance, absurdity and darkness. He once said, "I will never die for my faith, because I may be wrong." ”
Russell was sincere and lonely, but he neither feared nor ran away from it. "Don't be afraid of having a unique opinion, for the common sense we now accept was once a unique opinion; Even if the truth isn't pleasant, be honest, because it often takes more effort to cover up the truth. ”
In his later years, Russell devoted himself to the cause of peace, believing that "mankind is facing a catastrophe of destruction at all times". What prompted Russell to make this terrible prediction was the ever-present nuclear threat and nuclear blackmail.
If the world war breaks out again, the balance of terror will be broken, no one will abide by the nuclear ban agreement, and every party involved in the war will build hydrogen bombs and atomic bombs in large quantities, and a war that uses atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs will never have any winners, and we, as members of the earthlings, will either choose to live together or choose to die together.
Russell cried out with apprehension: "I desire that any nation, race, or ism be subjugated to the freedom, worth, and dignity of every living being." ”
No matter how long an individual's life expectancy is, it is only a drop in the ocean in the long river of history, but the philosopher's thoughts can transcend the times and stay forever. Russell died on February 2, 1970, but his judgment of Soviet totalitarianism and his fears of nuclear war were not outdated in the slightest.