Russell on Religion

Jul 6, 2026

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Russell on Religion assembles representative selections covering Bertrand Russell’s engagement with religion across genres, from mathematical treatises to fiction, and from philosophical logic and epistemology to moral and political essays. Edited by Louis Greenspan and Stefan Andersson, it traces the development and diversity of Russell’s thinking for readers at all levels, highlighting technical and reflective discussions that connect religion with philosophy, science, morality, and history.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages270

Reading Time11 h 20 min

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Personal statements

From ‘My Mental Development’ and ‘Reply to Criticisms’

The Free Man’s Worship

Autobiography: Mystic Illumination

What is an Agnostic?

Religion and philosophy

The Essence of Religion

The Essence and Effect of Religion

Why I Am Not a Christian

The Existence and Nature of God

Religion and science

Mysticism and Logic

Science and Religion

Review of Sir Arthur Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World

Do Science and Religion Conflict?

Religion and morality

Religion and the Churches

Inherent Tendencies of Industrialism

Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?

The Sense of Sin

Religion and history

(continuation)

RUSSELL ON RELIGION Russell on Religion contains a selection of writings designed to give the reader representative material on all aspects of his thinking on this subject. Russell contends with religion in every genre of his writing from mathematical treatises to his ventures in fiction; as a philosopher, historian, social critic and private individual. Students at all levels will find Russell on Religion a valuable presentation of the development and diversity of Bertrand Russell’s thinking about religion. Louis Greenspan is Professor Emeritus, Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University and former Director of the Bertrand Russell Editorial Project. Stefan Andersson is a research scholar at the Bertrand Russell Archives, McMaster University. RUSSELL ON General editor’s introduction A.C.Grayling Russell achieved public fame—often enough, notoriety—because of his engagement in social and political debates, becoming known to a wide audience as a philosopher in the popular sense of the term. But his chief contributions, the ones that have made a permanent difference to the history of thought, lie in logic and philosophy; and they are such that his influence both on the matter and style of twentieth-century philosophy, principally in its Anglophone form, is pervasive. Elsewhere I have described his contribution as constituting the ‘wall-paper’ of analytic philosophy, in the sense that his successors ‘use techniques and ideas developed from his work without feeling the need—sometimes without recognizing the need—to mention his name; which is influence indeed’. Russell devoted much attention to central technical questions in philosophical logic, epistemology and metaphysics. He also wrote extensively and forcefully about moral, religious and political questions in ways not merely journalistic. Much of his work in all these areas took the form of essays. Some have of course been famously collected, constituting a fundamental part of the canon of twentieth-century analytic philosophy. But there are many more riches in his copious output, their value to some degree lost because they have not hitherto been collected and edited in such a way as todo justice to the development and weight of his thinking about these subjects. This series, in bringing together Russell’s chief writings on major subject areas in an editorial frame that locates and interprets them fully, aims to remedy that lack and thereby to make a major contribution both to Russell scholarship and to contemporary analytic philosophy. RUSSELL ON RELIGION Selections from the writings of Bertrand Russell Edited by Louis Greenspan and Stefan Andersson London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 1999 selection and editorial matter Louis Greenspan and Stefan Andersson; © 1999 Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9–13 and 16, McMaster University; © 1999 Chapters 3, 7, 14, 15, 17 and 18– 22, The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd The right of the editors Louis Greenspan and Stefan Andersson to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Russell, Bertrand, 1872–1970. Russell on religion: selections fr

FAQs

What is the purpose of Russell on Religion?

It provides a curated set of writings intended to represent the breadth of Bertrand Russell’s thinking about religion, including how his views developed and varied across topics and forms.

Who edited the selections in Russell on Religion?

The selections are edited by Louis Greenspan and Stefan Andersson.

How is the book organized in relation to religion?

The contents are grouped into major themes such as personal statements, religion and philosophy, religion and science, religion and morality, and religion and history.

Jul 6, 2026

Upload by Jiven