bertrand russells characterization of benevolent love

7/29/2019 Bertrand Russells Characterization of Benevolent Love

1/10

BERTRAND RUSSELLSCHARACTERIZATION OFBENEVOLENT LOVE

MARVIN KOHLPhilosophy I SUNY College at FredoniaFredonia, NY 14603, USA

one of th e most intriguin g aspects of the writings of BertrandRussell is his determ inati on to somehow combin e reverencefor reason with a love of love. Be is convinced th at faith inreason is best coupled with faith in love. Just as the old proverb tellsus tha t bu tte r is best w ith bread, Russell maintains tha t love is bestw ith reason. It is this recognition, operating as a structural element,th a t gives his "pro to -theory " its w isdom and genius.Russell writes that"ethical theories may be divided in to two classes,according as they regard virtue as an end or a means" and tha t heagrees mainly, th ough not wholly, "wit h those who th ink the firstbusiness of ethics is to define the good, and tha t virtu e is to bedefined as actiori tend ing to produce th e good" (HWP, p. 179). Thefundamental prin ciple of ethics should be the promotion of happiness. I He def ines the morally good life as the life in spired by love andguided by knowledge. The end is happiness, the means are love and

I "My Religious Reminiscences", The Basic Writings ofBertrand cd. RobenE. Egner and Lester E. Denonn (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961), pp. 31-2.Reprinted from The Rationalist 1938, pp. 3-8. Alan Ryan (Bertrand Russell: aPolitical Lift [New York: Hill & Wang, 1988], p. 145) suggests that, for Russell,'''civilization' rather than happiness is the supreme goal .. .. " What Ryan perhapsshould have said is that, because Russell loved humankind, he was committed to itssurvival because the latter is rypically a necessary condition for happiness.russell: the Jo urnal of the Bemand Russ dl ArchivesMcMast er Universi ty Lib rat y Press n.s. 12 (winter 1992- 93): [[7 -34ISSN 003 6-0 16 3 '


2/10


3/10


4/10


5/10


6/10


7/10


8/10


9/10


10/10

134 MARVIN KOHL

least in What I Believe, aim ed to o low; t h a t by explic it ly a im in g atb o t h benevolence a n d ben efic ence th e ideal of th e g oo d life is b e tt e rfo rm ula te d, since it see ms to take us m u c h furt h er on th e path of ab e tte r w orld . I t has been w it h this c on clusio n in mind t h a t I haveem ph asized t h e prob le m a tic n atu re , pe rh ap s o nly the inco m pleteness,of Russell's otherw ise illu m in a tin g an alysis.

bertrand russells characterization of benevolent love

Documents