Аннотация

The brilliance of Bertrand Russell needs no introduction, for he is one of the greatest philosophers, scientists and social critics of our time. The contents of this book, however, are of particular significance, for here we see Lord Russell’s personality and mind captured at the moment of spontaneous inspiration. These thirteen television dialogues, in which Bertrand Russell was interviewed by Woodrow Wyatt, were entirely unrehearsed and present the Nobel Price winner’s controversial and unconventional thinking about the vital problems of our era. Shaping the ancient form of the Socratic dialogue to the design of his own original mind, Lord Russell continues, as he has always done, to astonish the reader with his outspoken versatility and wit.
A 'knight-errant of philosophy', denouncing the prejudice and intolerance which stand in the way of a better world, Lord Russell surveys the present scene with a philosophic mixture of scepticism and hope. He is pessimistic at times: 'Education has done an awful lot of harm. I sometimes think it would be better if people were still unable to read and write.' He is optimistic: 'In a vision I see a world of happy human beings, all vigorous, all intelligent, none of them oppressing, none of them oppressed.' He is realistic: 'I don't think Communism is a greater danger than East-West tension is; East-West tension ... is the greatest danger in the world.' And above all, in the pages of this book, Lord Russell is his caustic, inimitable, and lively self. Only the freshness of recorded speech can bring alive the philosopher's true character as he discourses on such matters as fanaticism, birth control, the H-bomb, and the future of mankind. No country escapes his critical eye, no area of human endeavour is beyond the range of his optimism.
This pungent book is essential reading for every person interested in observing the mind of a great humanist and scientist as it deals with great ideas. The spontaneity of question and answer as Bertrand Russell speaks his mind permits the reader to follow the working of a wisdom which takes for its province the major dilemmas of our age.