In Praise of Idleness

Intolerance and bigotry lie at the heart of all human suffering. So claims Bertrand Russell at the outset of In Praise of Idleness, a collection of essays in which he espouses the virtues of cool reflection and free enquiry; a voice of calm in a world of maddening unreason. From a devastating critique of the ancestry of fascism to a vehement defence of ‘useless’ knowledge, with consideration given to everything from insect pests to the human soul, this is a tour de force that only Bertrand Russell could perform.

Table of Contents

1. In Praise of Idleness

2. ‘Useless’ Knowledge

3. Architecture and Social Questions

4. The Modern Midas

5. The Ancestry of Fascism

6. Scylla and Charybdis, or Communism and Fascism

7. The Case for Socialism

8. Western Civilisation

9. On Youthful Cynicism

10. Modern Homogeneity

11. Men versus Insects

12. Education and Discipline

13. Stoicism and Mental Health

14. On Comets

15. What is the Soul?

Review

‘A book full of rich, stimulative thought, with plenty of scope for disagreement.’ – The Guardian

‘Invariably intelligent, stimulating and lucid.’ – The Listener

‘There is not … a page which does not provoke argument or thought.’ – The Sunday Times

About the Author

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). The leading British philosopher of the twentieth century, who made major contributions in the areas of logic and epistemology. Politically active and habitually outspoken, his ethical principles twice led to imprisonment.