Bertrand Russell: Difference between revisions

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::—Bertrand Russell, "Is There a God?"
::—Bertrand Russell, "Is There a God?"


Bertrand Russell was raised Unitarian, and remained a Unitarian until age 15, when he left the church over issues of [[problem of evil|theodicy]] and [[atheism]].  Amusingly, these same objections would eventually become mainstays of Unitarian thinking, such that modern Unitarian Universalists consider Bertrand Russell one of their own. In a sense, Lord Russell may have been more a Unitarian than the Unitarians of his time.
Bertrand Russell was raised [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]], and remained a Unitarian until age 15, when he left the church over issues of [[problem of evil|theodicy]] and [[atheism]].  Amusingly, these same objections would eventually become mainstays of Unitarian thinking, such that modern Unitarian Universalists consider Bertrand Russell one of their own. In a sense, Lord Russell may have been more a Unitarian than the Unitarians of his time.


Russell formulated the idea of a [[Russell's Teapot|celestial teapot]] to illustrate the unreasonableness of expecting skeptics to disprove God.
Russell formulated the idea of a [[Russell's Teapot|celestial teapot]] to illustrate the unreasonableness of expecting skeptics to disprove God.
   
   
==Ideas and concepts==
* [[Gadarene swine]]
* [[Russell's paradox]]
* [[Russell's Teapot]]
==Writings==
* [[Why I Am Not a Christian]]
* [[Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects]]
== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/brs.html The Bertrand Russell Society]
* [http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/brs.html The Bertrand Russell Society]

Revision as of 23:42, 18 January 2016

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Bertrand William Russell (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. A prolific writer, Russell was a strong advocate of the creative and rational life, and he spoke passionately about his many controversial positions, including atheism.

Russell's views on religion can be found in his popular book, Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects.

  • “My conclusion is that there is no reason to believe any of the dogmas of traditional theology and, further, that there is no reason to wish that they were true. Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.”
—Bertrand Russell, "Is There a God?"

Bertrand Russell was raised Unitarian, and remained a Unitarian until age 15, when he left the church over issues of theodicy and atheism. Amusingly, these same objections would eventually become mainstays of Unitarian thinking, such that modern Unitarian Universalists consider Bertrand Russell one of their own. In a sense, Lord Russell may have been more a Unitarian than the Unitarians of his time.

Russell formulated the idea of a celestial teapot to illustrate the unreasonableness of expecting skeptics to disprove God.

Ideas and concepts

Writings

External links


v · d Atheism
Terminology   Etymology of the word atheist · Weak atheism · Strong atheism · Agnosticism · Atheist vs. agnostic · Tenets and dogma
Contemporary literature   The End of Faith · The God Delusion · God: The Failed Hypothesis · Letter to a Christian Nation · God Is Not Great · Irreligion · 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
Classic literature   Why I Am Not a Christian
Atheist and secular groups   Atheist groups · Secular charities · How American Non-Atheists view Atheists
Contemporary authors   Richard Dawkins · Daniel Dennett · A. C. Grayling · Sam Harris · Guy P. Harrison · John Allen Paulos · James Randi · Victor Stenger
Internet non-believers   Reginald Vaughn Finley · PZ Myers
Writers and philosophers   David Hume · Robert Ingersoll · Friedrich Nietzsche · Bertrand Russell · Carl Sagan · Voltaire · Jean-Paul Sartre · John Stuart Mill · Karl Marx · Heraclitus
v · d Rationalism
Rationalist Ideas   Reason · Fundamental rights · Evidence · Freethought
History of rationalism   Pythagoras · Plato · Aristotle · Socrates · Avicenna · Maimonides · St. Thomas Aquinas · René Descartes · Baruch Spinoza · Gottfried Leibniz · Immanuel Kant · Søren Kierkegaard
Notable rationalists   Emile Zola · Bertrand Russell · George Eliot · E.M. Forster · Prabir Ghosh · Joseph Edamaruku · Narendra Dabholkar
Rationalist organizations   Rationalist Press Association ·