Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 A young man of character
- 2 Fellow-travelling with the Fabians
- 3 Out of the moral gymnasium
- 4 Political science
- 5 The sage of Caxton Hall
- 6 Anarchist tendencies
- 7 Russia, China, and the West
- 8 The Wellsian trajectory
- 9 Ideologies and dystopias
- Epilogue: Russell and the idea of the clerisy
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- IDEAS IN CONTEXT
6 - Anarchist tendencies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 A young man of character
- 2 Fellow-travelling with the Fabians
- 3 Out of the moral gymnasium
- 4 Political science
- 5 The sage of Caxton Hall
- 6 Anarchist tendencies
- 7 Russia, China, and the West
- 8 The Wellsian trajectory
- 9 Ideologies and dystopias
- Epilogue: Russell and the idea of the clerisy
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- IDEAS IN CONTEXT
Summary
Of the reception given to Principles of Social Reconstruction Russell later remarked, ‘To my surprise, it had an immediate success. I had written it with no expectations of its being read, merely as a profession of faith, but it brought me in a great deal of money, and laid the foundation for all my future earnings.’ His initial expectations may have been modest, but the response rapidly overcame this uncharacteristic diffidence, producing instead a desire that he might extend his influence beyond the confines of Caxton Hall. He did not, however, expect a ‘popular’ success; indeed, his comments at the time suggest that he considered ‘popularity’ and influence as being scarcely compatible:
My ambitions are more vast and less immediate than my friends' ambitions for me. I don't care for the applause one gets by saying what others are thinking; I want actually to change people's thoughts. Power over people's minds is the main personal desire of my life; and this sort of power is not acquired by saying popular things. In philosophy, when I was young, my views were as unpopular and strange as they could be; yet I have had a very great measure of success. Now I have started on a new career, and if I live and keep my faculties, I shall probably be equally successful … In any large undertaking, there are rough times to go through, and of course success may not come till after one is dead – but those things don't matter if one is in earnest. I have something important to say on the philosophy of life and politics, something appropriate to the time.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Social and Political Thought of Bertrand RussellThe Development of an Aristocratic Liberalism, pp. 126 - 145Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995