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Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects | 
 enlarge | Author: Bertrand Russell
Creator: Paul Edwards
Publisher: Touchstone
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  158 reviews
Sales Rank: 59169
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 266
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0671203231
Dewey Decimal Number: 211
EAN: 9780671203238
ASIN: 0671203231
Publication Date: October 30, 1967
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Condition: Former display copy. Mint cond. inside and out. Pages tight/tight/crisp and clean. Cover mint. Smoke free. 100% satisfaction always!
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Product Description
Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself -- questions about man's place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous. These qualities make the essays included in this book perhaps the most graceful and moving presentation of the freethinker's position since the days of Hume and Voltaire."I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue," Russell declares in his Preface, and his reasoned opposition to any system or dogma which he feels may shackle man's mind runs through all the essays in this book, whether they were written as early as 1899 or as late as 1954. The book has been edited, with Lord Russell's full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial "Bertrand Russell Case" of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared "unfit" to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York. Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russell's views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 153 more reviews...
Relevant Today August 26, 2008
I should preface this review by stating that I am not a student of philosophy, nor was I previously familiar with Bertrand Russell's other works. I ordered this collection of essays after seeing it referenced in several other books dealing with secular humanism.
While some of the essays necessarily seem a bit dated (most were written between 1900 and 1960), many of the themes Russell touches upon seem particularly relevant today. Russell writes passionately and articulately about the dangerous role that dogma -- particularly religious dogma -- plays in curtailing free thought and active debate. Further, he warns of the pain and suffering that have historically followed when dogmatic views are forced upon the population at large by those in power.
There are many other powerful ideas contained in this collection. For example, Russell also provides sobering insights on the dangers inherent in any democracy -- particularly the "tyranny of the majority" which can silence unpopular ideas.
Given the chilling times we live in -- when reasoned debate and diversity of opinion seem to be increasingly threatened by dogma (both political and religious) -- Russell's ideas (and warnings) are especially poignant.
Of course, not all of the essays resonate today. The discussion of Catholic and Protestant skeptics seems a bit strange (to say the least).
Finally, this volume concludes with an article written by Prof. Paul Edwards detailing why Bertrand Russell was prevented by teaching at the College Of The City Of New York. It is a fascinating example of how the political and legal systems of a supposedly free democracy can be used to suppress unpopular ideas and impose dogmatic belief systems.
My only reason for withholding a 5th star is that I would like to have seen the publishers release an updated edition with greater historical background and footnotes. Otherwise, an excellent and thought-provoking collection of essays.
 Dogma or Progress? July 17, 2008
The fact that short essays carried one theme, instead of a lengthy essays with complex nuances, strengthens the theories of B. Russell.
A bright ideological strategy to say the least.
Russell's atheism is not a tumultuous philosophy, but rather conceptual pacifism. And his anti-war policy echoes a high standard of ethics.
Then, should we question liberal morality when intended to equality and peace among nations?
I don't think so.
The historical Chairman Mao condemned religion as poison, Bertrand Russell defined religion as the expression of fear and social inquietude.
Through intellectual development, societies progress, and nations prosper. Mr. Russell is perfectly correct.
I give this book 5 stars without hesitation
Stimulus July 14, 2008
One need not be against religious belief to appreciate Russell's scholarship. If one is against the subjection of the individual for the benefit of the state, one can find much to appreciate in his philosophy, even if you disagree with his theistic views.
This and Ibn Warraq June 14, 2008
After 9/11, when I finally determined to clarify my own beliefs about gods and religions (I'd left them hazy for much too long) this and Ibn Warraq's Why I Am Not a Muslim were the two most useful books I found. Russell's essay isn't elaborate or long, but it covered the ground for someone like me who's lives in a basically Judeo-Christian culture. It was interesting and gratifying to see that Warraq's book (which gave me new knowledge about Islamic religion, history, and culture) was, in essence, much the same. Not that I started out thinking myself either a Judeo-Christian or Muslim, but it was interesting to get better perspective on how all the major religions offer basically the same set of rewards and pitfalls. I used to make Buddhism a benign exception to that, but not so much anymore after a glimpse of Sri Lankan history. Take Me With You When You Go Nutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1
 Junk philosophy. June 13, 2008
2 out of 13 found this review helpful
One has to wonder just how sound someone's philosophical underpinnings are when to justify a philosophical point the author makes an appeal to a well-known character of fiction such as Robinson Crusoe and Charles Dickens' novels as vindication of that principal or principles! His purpose would best be served it he maintained the use of realistic examples.
Mr. Russell provides the reader with examples of Christian intolerance and injustice and the like while stating that it was freethinkers that corrected such errors shows that the author is being very selective in his choice of examples of the errors of Christianity. The author wrote, "The whole contention that Christianity has had an elevating moral influence can only be maintained by wholesale ignoring or falsification of the historical evidence." Mr. Russell is clearly being very selective of his "historical evidence" and choosing only those examples that best suit the purpose of his book. To the contrary the followers of Christ have introduced reforms that have improved the lot of man tremendously as true history clearly shows while one would be hard pressed to find any such benefits introduced, much less produced, by freethinkers on such a scale that Christianity has. While it is true that some supposed segments of Christianity were responsible for certain outrages these incidences are not symptomatic of Christianity as a whole nor should be construed as such. The atrocities committed by those who adopted the guise of Christian have done so only to gain the support and popularity of the people for their cause if not to use it as the justification of such acts.
The examples Mr. Russell chose as representative of Christianity are, as I've stated before, very selective and are not representative of Christianity as a whole. It is abundantly clear that the author is not being intellectually honest.
One gets the impression that the author thinks that Christianity is some sinister evil waiting for the appropriate time for it to rear its head to befoul the world anew. It appears that the author is letting his atheism interfere with his objectivity.
In his book Mr. Russell makes the rather outrageous claim, "And yet everybody who has taken the trouble to study morbid psychology knows that prolonged virginity is, as a rule, extraordinarily harmful to women, so harmful that, in a sane society, it would be severely discouraged in teachers." It's statements like this that has diminished a once bright star in the philosophical heavens.
The examples Mr. Russell chose as representative of Christianity are, as I've stated before, very selective and are not representative of Christianity as a whole. It is abundantly clear that the author is not being intellectually honest.
This book is nothing more than the result of a very narrow and/or biased philosophy.
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