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For those who who are curious, he's also a famous logician, mathematician and pacifist in addition to being a philosopher [1]. My first introduction to mathema
by jianshen 14y ago
For those who who are curious, he's also a famous logician, mathematician and pacifist in addition to being a philosopher [1].
My first introduction to mathematical logic, set theory and axiomatics [2] was thru his work because he made everything so accessible as a writer and a thinker. What a remarkable mind.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell
[2] http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/
- adrianwaj 14y agoI think he was also into eugenics and forced sterilization.
- jianshen 14y agoI hope you don't construe my remarks about him as approval of eugenics. Many of his views were indeed antiquated and deserve criticism but I don't believe they invalidate his contributions to other sciences.
- adrianwaj 14y agoNo I don't. I was going to add that I find it interesting (actually disturbing) when a person that is leading or has mastered one field of endeavour ventures into another and uses that platform. Often squandered but just shows them to be human. But maybe being on edge and thoughtful is what brought them to mastery in the first place.
- pbhjpbhj 14y agoYou appear to oppose those things¹ - I'd certainly be interested in your reasoning. Is/Should reproduction be a basic right of all people that can not be withdrawn (despite many states in the world advocating death sentences). Is there something wrong generally with wanting to improve the genetic make up of the world's human population - most of us practice a mild [innate] form of eugenics in our mate selection don't we? Or is it specifics of what Russell advocates that are most clearly wrong in your view? Probably this is going too far OT ...?
- adrianwaj 14y agoEugenics is mass murder and and forced sterilization is the murder of the unborn. There's plenty of resources and goodwill to make up for unwanted groups by a certain few. You take your mate selection and keep it to yourself. I haven't looked deeply into Russells reasonings and theories in this area, nor do I want to.
- pbhjpbhj 14y agoEugenics can be practised without premature death of any person. So I'm afraid you need to do better on that argument. Sterilisation, eg vasectomy, can be done without any loss of life; so ditto on that argument.
- adrianwaj 14y agoWell, let's hope useless eaters like yourself get vasectomies or just euthanize yourselves for the Sake of Humanity, in which you are having great trouble assimilating. That's why you're just a figment of the imagination and should remain that way.
- ninjin 14y agoRussell was and is an excellent read although what he wrote is now mostly over half-a-century old. Sorry to shamelessly suggest interesting historical reading but I personally found for example "The Problem of China" a wonderful document, elegantly written, that captures Western and Japanese policies towards China and amongst the major powers between the world wars. This is not a direct quote, but I remember reading the sentiment and it was chilling: "If Japanese and American expansionist policies continue to persist, I would not be surprised to see it lead to a war within this century". Freely available at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13940 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13940