Como se depreenderá, este cenário faz de Russell um racionalista, e é exatamente por isso que precisamos de ler todo o livro com algumas cautelas. In this, Rousseau is the predecessor of Nietzsche, who raised the notion of 'Will to Power' to unsurpassed heights.

It remains unclear whether Russell in-fact understands the depths of his opponent's work, although it doesn't matter to him. Para se poder criar um bom crivo crítico desta leitura é preciso começar por compreender a bagagem de Russell, alguém que começou por estudar matemática e filosofia naquilo que mais une ambas as disciplinas, a lógica, a partir do que viria lançar a corrente de pensamento que ficou conhecida como: filosofia analítica. Noutro campo, e graças à sua veia crítica, é interessante ver como desmonta os mitos de Esparta, nomeadamente o seu criador Plutarco. Many of the refugees are now well into the third decade of their precarious existence in temporary settlements.In Germany, Fichte, Hegel and their followers fell into radical subjectivism - even going so far as making absurd claims as the self, or the Ego is the only thing that exists. He takes the opportunity to address nearly every aspect of philosophy: ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, political philosophy, etc. It is clear that each party to this dispute - as to all that persist through long periods of time - is partly right and partly wrong. Ou seja, a sua filosofia analítica não comporta espaço para uma análise contextualizada pelo tempo em que as ideias foram produzidas, interessado apenas no como se comportam essas ideias quando passadas pelo filtro da lógica atual. This mentality - which really more suits a lawyer than a seeker of truth - smothers intellectual growth, and it was only in the Renaissance - when Stoic and Platonic texts entered Europe again (via Arabic translations) - that new insights started to develop.

Russell treats with repect the complex issues that have engaged thinkers throughout the millenia even when he clearly disagrees with their conclusions. Hitler caused him to later renounce his pacifism, to the point that he wished he were younger so that he might don a uniform himself.

Because of the partisan nature of its views, and the quick, witty style of their presentation, it has never been a staple as an academic textbook. It ends (if I remember correctly) with a summary of his own work in Principia Mathematica and a fascinating account of how Godel undermined Russell's masterwork twenty years later. Somewhere in there is the answer to the Western half of the meaning of life, and will help solve lots of emotional and life problems.

Por outro lado, a História termina em 1945, o que deixa de fora muito do que se germinava nesses anos e viria a ganhar relevo, para além de toda a segunda metade do século XX. A History of Western Philosophy is far more enjoyable once you have actually read the thinkers yourself.Russell is not an expert on many of the subjects he is writing about here, so it is quite legitimate to disagree with him. The refugees who surround Palestine in their hundreds of thousands were described recently by the Washington journalist I. The only reason why I haven't given it the full 5 stars is the fact that the book is written for a general public, yet someone who doesn't know the ins and outs of the philosophers and their philosophies will have trouble to understand Russell's points throughout the book. Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, was a Welsh philosopher, historian, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, pacifist, and prominent rationalist.