BERTRAND RUSSELL
Sir-Mr, Mouat may prefer Russell’s exegetical method to a plain objective history, but few will agree that such a method is desirable in a book entitled The History of Western Philosophy. The plain fact is that in this work the philosopher has run away with the historian, if, indeed, Russell may be called an historian. Russell’s doubt about existence was not, as Mr. Mouat seems to think, about its ethical value, but about its metaphysical nature. He expresses a similar idea on Page 176 where
he says ‘that the statement that an individual lion exists is nonsense. The truth is that Russell has never grasped the meaning of the word "is." That, by the way, is why he is so anxious to get rid of the Aristotelian logic, which asserts that "is" has a meaning. As for Mr. Mouat’s request that I explain why it is better to exist than not to exist, no explanation is required, for this truth is self-evident. If Mr. Mouat cannot see that reality is better than absolute nothingness, I am sorry. Mr. Mouat has not made things any better for Russell. by giving the full quotation about Socrates. When those of us who bélong to the philosophical tradition that runs from Socrates to Maritain, read NRussell’s comments on Socrates’ intellectual dishonesty, we smile. I quoted Russell’s statement that "any person in the present time who wishes to learn logic will be wasting his time if he reads Aristotle." Yet according to Mr. Mouat, "Russell admits Aristotle’s usefulness as a stepping-stone." May I suggest "doormat" or "football" as more exact than "stepping-stone"? Mr. Mouat seems to think that Russell’s doubt about the validity of causation is a proof of his humility. Quite the contrary. Russell disagrees with the 99.9 per cent. of humanity who have no doubts about it. Russell’s apology to the specialists is not good enough, He owes an apology to the general reader, / for there is now a consensus of opinion ‘among those who know, that Aquinas is a much greater figure than one would gather from Russell’s treatment of him. Finally, if Mr. Mouat can show on ‘other than Theistic grounds (which is presumably what he means by "ethical
standards") why treachery to truth is morally reprehensible. I shall be much
obliged to him, —
G.H.D.
(Greenmeadows).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 523, 1 July 1949, Page 5
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387BERTRAND RUSSELL New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 523, 1 July 1949, Page 5
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