BERTRAND RUSSELL
Sir,-Bertrand Russell is not likely to need my help as a result of G.H.D.’s Philosophical criticism. I joined issue with G.H.D. mainly because he expressed his opinions as objective facts. I still think that, when Russell doubts that "to exist is better than not to exist," he is doubting the ethical nature of existence; and I am well aware, in spite of G.H.D.’s apparent notion to the contrary, that Russell discusses metaphysics. "The truth is," writes G.H.D., "that Russell has never grasped the meaning of the word ‘is’." Well, who -has grasped its meaning, or, for that matter, the meaning of the word "I," or of the word "of"? My own
puny brain can understand them only through the agency of what Whitehead calls the concept of God. am not surprised that G.H.D. should smile, together with those of his philosophical tradition; but I am surprised that he should admit it. For that smile also has a tradition. Apart from his smile, G.H.D. has these other arguments to offer: "Few will agree ... This truth is self-evident . . . Those of us Who belong . . . 99.9 per cent of humanity . . . consensus of opinion yee And they may all be ~ sufficiently answered, I think, by Uncle Toby’s Argumentum Fistulatorium. Finally, sir, I shall oblige G.H.D. by explaining why I think that Russell is right, in describing treachery to truth as morally reprehensible. I shall explain without any feference to Theistic grounds. And I want to inform G.H.D. that he does presume, and that he presumes beyond all reason, when he considers that by ethical standards I mean Theistic grounds. Morals depend on the people they belong to. Among one Indian sect, free love is not morally reprehensible; with us, it is.. Among Thugs it is not immoral to steal or to murder, Among Englishmen, after studying their customs and laws, I think that Russell has reason to bélieve that treachery to truth is morally reprehenpoh: in all its forms of perjury, deceit, ying, evasion, misrepresentation, insufficiency, and presumption.
ROBERT
MOUAT
(Christchurch),
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 528, 5 August 1949, Page 5
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338BERTRAND RUSSELL New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 528, 5 August 1949, Page 5
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