The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Volume 1: The Private Years 1884-1914

The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell #1

by Nicholas Griffin (editor)

Those who knew the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell at the turn of the century referred to him as 'the Day of Judgement'. This acclaimed selection of his early letters, available in paperback for the first time, reveals the full scope of Russell's life and innermost thoughts up to the First World War. It includes letters to his first wife, Alys Pearsall Smith, reveals the background to his now famous work in philosophy and the foundations of mathematics and how his mind was stirred by socialism, free trade and votes for women. It also contains letters on his famous affair with Ottoline Morrell, providing yet another insight into one of the great intellectual figures of the twentieth century.

588 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2013

About the author

Philosophy professor at McMaster University in Canada

Reviews

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bertrand Russell is my intellectual idol and so I am heavily biased towards him. It was a delight to read this volume. I have already read Russell's Autobiography before. The letters in this volume show an evolving Russell as he grows gradually from childhood towards maturity. Few things that I noticed:

1. Russell was always drawn to logic and exactitude, this was expected.
2. He was intensely emotional, especially obvious from his early letters to Alys and then Ottoline. This was a surprise for me but what is interesting is that even during such intense emotional rollercoaster rides, he was able to maintain his analytical power.
3. He went through number of depressive phases and Alys suffered also. It was interesting to see that Alys was such a formidable and progressive character. Overall, it seems Russell used his work and the joy it gave, to counter and balance his emotional turmoil!
4. Russell's support for womens' right and suffragette movement was comforting. I also liked that he stood up for Arnold Bennett when discuss with Conrad (I like Bennett too)
5. In one of the letters to Ottoline he mentions that an "unknown German " engineer came to his lecture and that he was impressed by him, that's basically Russell's first encounter with his future star pupil Wittgenstein!

If you like reading about Russell, this is definitely worth reading, one gets the human side.

[Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this book just 3 stars for the following main reason: the vast majority of the letters presented here relate to Russell's love affairs. When I bought the book I was expecting to peer into the mind of the philosopher qua philosopher. I really wanted to see what was going through Russell's mind when he moved from Hegelianism to Analytic philosophy. Although there are some hints in the book, this early phase in his career is obscured by his intimate correspondence with Alys (his first wife). I also expected to read about his technical thoughts during the Principia Mathematica years, but this is too is omitted. It would have been great fun to read about his early exchanges with Wittgenstein, but only a couple of letters relate to him in detail. This book should have been titled 'The Private Love Letters of Bertrand Russell'. I did not dislike the book entirely, however, because I did appreciate the human side of Russell. In fact, I can see parts of my life reflected in his to a great degree, and it gives me courage to think that one can still do good philosophy while doing battle with one's inner demons.