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Hero??P O V!! The article really sounds like a fan letter... i didn't think such a whitewash could last so long on this site. How can someone who postulates such thing as these... The Society of Experts and the Oblivious Masses
“Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen [...]” - 41 ...someone who thinks that.. be regarded as humanitarian and freethinking?? And then go on to postulate that he is somehow Anti-communist, Anti-Hitler, and Anti-Stalin?? The ideas he champions are the blueprints for every textbook dictatorship set up in the history of civilization! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.235.86.73 (talk) 00:36, 8 July 2008 (UTC) Asperger syndromeIs it possible that he suffered from Asperger syndrome? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.117.23.221 (talk) 12:11, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
Exiledone (talk) 19:15, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
English or Welsh?The main article states that he's Welsh, but the categories at the bottom of the page have him in "English Philosophers" and "English anti-communists". So which is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.101.35.67 (talk) 00:19, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
I don't know where else to put this comment, so I'll put it here. Russel's picture needs to seriously be changed. He SHOULD NOT be looking like a man from the 1880s, when there are other, better pictures of him suavely in his older years without that ridiculous mustache. I demand there be put up a more contemporary photo of Bertrand where he a) he has no mustache, b) he has white, gray hair, and c) he is smoking a pipe. This will give wikipedia, which is somewhat the point of wikipedia, a more use-friendly feel to Russel. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.212.128.99 (talk) 23:31, 5 March 2008 (UTC) Ontological ArgumentThe article seems to suggest that he fully "accepted" it, which I don't think was true. If this wasn't the intent of the section, then it should probably be better explained. --Jammoe 22:43, 11 January 2007 (UTC) Quotation sectionsIt is my recommendation that the quotations in the sections "Russell summing up his life", "Comments about Russell", and "Quotations" be either removed and transferred to WikiQuote, or incorporated into the overall narrative about Russell's life and views. Such selective quoting is not only a violation of WP:NPOV, but is also fundamentally unencyclopedic. -Silence 02:01, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
Atheist?Russell summed himself up, as quoted, as an agnostic. He was a fundamentally anti-religious agnostic, except for the period of "A Free Man's Worship"; but Category:Atheist mathematicians, Category:Atheist philosophers ,Category:Atheist thinkers and activists, and Category:British atheists are excessive and misleading. Septentrionalis 17:53, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
His self-identification is Rationalist, and he found both terms problematic. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 22:04, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
Comments section and Summation of Own LifeI have deleted these sections for the reasons myself and others have listed above: the article is very long, the Comments section is basically a laudatory quotes section and belongs (and already exists) in Wikiquote, and the summation of his life violates NPOV. I did this as these issues were brought up many times and there hasn't been much in the way of contestation. Additionally, the article would be more neutral, concise and informative if there were fewer quotes of Russell in the article, but I don't feel qualified to edit these as i have not read much Russell and don't know much about the context of these quotes. It does Russell no service to have a wikipedia article about him that violates NPOV. Acornwithwings 01:33, 28 December 2006 (UTC) m The Principles of Mathematicsthis book is linked to four times along the page, and doesn't have an article. is it needed? and more generally, why not merge "writings online" into "selected bibliography"? trespassers william 20:10, 8 January 2007 (UTC) Eugenics and raceThe quotations in the section Eugenics and race of the article are simply irreconcilable among themselves, in spite of the admirable efforts displayed by the editor. Let's face the facts: Bertrand Russel was a racist, to the point of advocating birth control targeted only at "coloured races" ("Lecture by the Hon. Bertrand Russell", Birth Control News, vol. 1, no. 8, December 1922, p.2), and to describe the extermination of “negroes” only, all considered (and “apart from questions of humanity” [sic!]), as “undesirable” ([sic!], Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals, 1929). In the course of time, he partly "softened" his views, partly changed their expression, when, especially after the II World War (Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World, London: Allen & Unwin, 1951, p. 108), it would not have been “politically” correct” to display such outspoken racist and “eugenetic” views. Also, probably Bertrand Russel realized that his former unrestrained racist and “eugenetic” views were not much in character with his post-war image of liberal, non-conformist, political agitator. Miguel de Servet: You say that Russell changes his views after "it would not have been “politically” correct” to display such outspoken racist and “eugenetic” views. " Do you maintain that he changed his views when he did **because** it would have been unpopular not to? If you so maintain, you're committing a fallacy (post hoc ergo propter hoc.) If you do not so maintain, you're just stating the obvious; yes(I'll assume you're premises), he discarded his racist views after WWII, and after WWII was when racism and "eugenicism" became " 'politically' correct," - therefore Russell discarded his racist views when his racist views became "'politically' incorrect." So which is it? Are you making a bad inference, or is the law of identity just that fascinating? "probably Bertrand Russel realized that his former unrestrained racist and 'eugenetic' views were not much in character with his post-war image of liberal, non-conformist, political agitator." Either you have an inductive proof for this or you intuit it. A (cogent) inductive proof would be interesting. (In coming up with it, you'll have to account for the possibility that Russell actually believed what he said.) An intuition would not be so. But I'll assume what you say is interesting, and I'll consequently be waiting for your cogent inductive proof... Raimm 04:31, 21 October 2007 (UTC) Judging from chronology alone, it would seem that before 1929 he was unabashedly racist and from at least 1932 he was beginning to rethink that view.--Rob117 05:27, 4 April 2007 (UTC) It's not that hard to argue he was just using the language of the times and was commenting on the issues of the times. If those are the best examples, I don't think there is much of a case. --24.57.157.81 04:28, 21 April 2007 (UTC) I do not believe there is anything to face here - to counter the first comment. Russell did not believe that every men is equal, but he was not racist and I don't think the claim is justified looking at the time period and his comments. Here is a passage from Lincoln : "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race..." But still I do not think Lincoln was racist. So, because of the "time period" they were not racist, no matter what they said or thought? That's very strange.--Fracastorius 09:33, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Lincoln was a supremacist; Bertrand Russell was a supremacist. Eugenics, British imperialism, tropical labor camps, the U.S. civil war, abolition, reconstruction, Western liberalism: all processes & ideologies undertaken by the Anglo-American elite to foster, protect & promulgate the global hegemony of those of European heritage. Hegemony - domination - supremacy. If rendered as such semantically, do any of you care to quibble with these historic truisms? sewot_fred 02:23, 25 June 2007 (UTC) Rande M Sefowt: Your comment is an excellent piece of rhetoric, and it thus seems beautifully written. But like many other excellent pieces of rhetoric which (by their being excellent pieces of rhetoric) seem beautifully written, it has little substance; it contains phrases which (I think) are meaningless. In particular, what in Jove's name does "rendered as such semantically" mean? And what in Hera's is a "historic truism?" Raimm 04:31, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
Influences and InfluencedI have started a discussion regarding the Infobox Philosopher template page concerning the "influences" and "influenced" fields. I am in favor of doing away with them. Please join the discussion there. RJC Talk 14:13, 3 May 2007 (UTC) RemovalI have removed the following:
... because it is weaselly and, as long as it remains unsourced, meaningless. The fact of the controversy surrounding him should be stated as such, rather than with such silly unattributed bits of rhetoric like "a prophet of the creative and rational life". The nickname is interesting but again unsourced; Google gives no support to it whatsoever. — Dan | talk 22:09, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
Good Article ReviewI have nominated this for WP:GA/R due to inadequate referencing. I hope the article gets the attention it deserves during this process to retain its quality rating. Please see discussions at Wikipedia:Good_article_review#Bertrand_Russell. I also hope someone will add an {{ArticleHistory}} template to this page. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio/tcfkaWCDbwincowtchatlotpsoplrttaDCLaM) 16:40, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
The article is a good article, but it can and should be improved. The mention of views which were on occasion expressed by Russell and which have been characterized as racist needs to be handled delicately, NPOV, which needs a good editor, not necessarily better references. That Russell lived through most of the century, therefore influencing nearly everyone, and being influenced by many, is beyond dispute, but not necessarily supported by a hundred references. So much work has gone into this article, perhaps some little tidying or freshening is needed? This would be work for experienced editors (much more experienced). suggestions?--Newbyguesses 17:34, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Delisted GA statusThis article was beyond GA review and, thus, has been speedily delisted. Its current state is no where near GA quality. There needs to be many more references and inline citations for an article of this length and, as a biography, there really needs to be a high standard with those references. Once the quality of this article has been improved, it may be renominated for GA. If it is felt that this decision was made in error, remediation may be requested at WP:GA/R. Regards, LaraLoveT/C 17:59, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Error in paragraph Second World War?
Shouldn't that rather be Before ...? (as I understand other pages about Russell and given that it seems out of place if after is really meant) --84.152.2.218 01:03, 25 June 2007 (UTC) Richard Dawkins influenced by Russell?The article says that biologist Richard Dawkins is influenced by Bertrand Russell. I don't see the influence philosopher Bertie has on biologist Dawkins. There are plenty people who have undergone more influence of Russell.
Louis PojmanIt's a bit strange to see Louis Pojman referred to in this article as a theologian. Pojman was a philosopher, not a theologian. His academic positions were in philosophy, and his contributions to the field of philosophy are indisputable. I know of no contribution from him to the field of theology. Parableman 17:59, 26 September 2007 (UTC) GA RenomI've replaced the remaining {{fact}} tags with references, and it looks like those and the rest should cover everything. I've put it up for another GA Review, hopefully it'll make it this time. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:48, 28 October 2007 (UTC) GA quick failThis article is obviously very detailed, but currently a user cannot verify any of that detail (there are even uncited direct quotations). Much more of this article needs to be sourced using inline citations or some other form of citation. The editors might take a moment to peruse some of wikipedia's FA biographies, such as Balzac, and some of its other GA biographies, such as W. H. Auden, to get a sense of what is required. Awadewit | talk 03:37, 28 October 2007 (UTC) Great Minds, Great ThinkersThe page on Bertrand Russel at [1] is nearly word-for-word identical to this entry. I assume it is the one plagarising, rather than the other way round, but I thought you all should knowIsaac Benaron 18:59, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
Criticism SectionI think the article would benefit from a section devoted to criticism of some of his theories. Many Analytic philosophers disagree with some of his theories especially his theories on epistemology. It would also make the article more neutral. Exiledone (talk) 17:50, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
Between the wars, and second marriageThere is a problem in this section which is simple but I don’t know how to solve it and thought someone else could. The problem is in the following text and its link: “Russell's marriage to Dora grew increasingly tenuous, and it reached a breaking point over her having two children with an American journalist, Griffin Barry.“ When you click on the link to Griffin Barry or look Griffin Barry up with the search engine, it goes to the article on Dora Russell. Barry is mentioned near the end of the article but does not seem to have an article of his own.Jgmccue (talk) 22:07, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Empiricist-rationalistThe into sentence of this article described Russell as, among other things, a "prominent rationalist." I noticed this didn't completely gel with what I personally have learned (I'm an undergraduate philosophy student) so I ran a quick Google search to see if either the article or myself were off base. The vast majority of online sources describe Russell as something in between[2], such as a "rational empiricist," or even primarily as a logical empiricist (Hjørland, "Journal of documentation," 2005 p. 131) This own article even talks about Russell's own strains of empiricism in the "Logical atomism" section. I realize that the two are not mutually exclusive, but I feel describing Russell solely as a "prominent rationalist" in the first sentence with no empiricist counterbalance is misleading. I've removed the words "prominent rationalist" from the end of the sentence. Thoughts? 134.69.168.154 (talk) 07:19, 3 March 2008 (UTC) "anti-communist"User:Smiloid added the "anti-communist" category to this article and Emma Goldman, based on their ultimate opposition to Soviet state Communism. This is a confusion between "communism" and "Communism". The category currently is "anti-communist" -- small c -- denoting opposition to communism as a philosophical and political position. It was historically inaccurate to describe Goldman as anti-communist, although of course she did end up being critical of capital-C Communist. A similar problem exists for use of this category here. It's my understanding that Russell was a socialist, and although opposed to the Soviet state, was not in any sense "anti-communist" (lower-c). I suggest removing the category, but post here for discussion by regular editors first. --Lquilter (talk) 13:50, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
GA ReviewComments have been moved to Talk:Bertrand Russell/GA Review LeadI think this article is very good. However, the lead of the article should be expanded. Masterpiece2000 (talk) 05:18, 18 April 2008 (UTC) SplitI'm proposing to split this article. Creating a new page Philosophy of Bertrand Russel or Philosophical work of Betrand Russel. The first paragraphy in section 2 (Philosophical work) could stay as an intro, but the rest could be moved... Comments:
bad photo choiceI hope this is the right venue for sharing this opinion I don't want to edit the article, but would like to suggest that wikipedia consider using a different photo of Russell. There is a universally accepted image of Russell (older, with the unkempt hair) which you are avoiding with that ridiculously early picture. To me, it makes the whole page look laughably esoteric, like an annoying fan who says he stopped paying attention after the band's first album. Why use that photo? The worst sin you can make, as an encyclopedia, is provide information to new readers that will actually make them look like a fool if they use it. A person who describes Russell with your picture will be laughed at. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.145.165.198 (talk) 06:39, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
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