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    In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay
    Unavailable
    In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay
    Unavailable
    In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay
    Ebook143 pages1 hour

    In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay

    By Bertrand Russell and Bradley Trevor Greive

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    New York Times bestselling author Bradley Trevor Greive breathes new life into Bertrand Russell’s classic work, In Praise of Idleness, with a magical package that includes BTG’s new introduction, biographical afterword, historical notes, additional quotations and comic illustrations. This is the perfect gift for the fearless literary connoisseur who values creativity, big ideas and revolutionary spirit.

    Considered “the Voltaire of his time”, Bertrand Russell was a fearless iconoclast who stood unbowed before political and religious leaders; his disdain for conventional thinking and accepted beliefs set him apart from his academic peers and at odds with the authorities throughout his long and storied life.

    Russell’s penetrating insights and exquisite turns of phrase feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were first written. Arguing that we can achieve far more by doing far less, and that traditional wealth accumulation is a form of cultural and moral poverty, Russell demands greater depth from our age of abundant creativity and heralds the next wave of enlightened entrepreneurs.

    ‘Bradley Trevor Greive, best known for his humorous inspirational books, has done us all a favour by bringing the full force of his bestseller clout to reviving the work of polymath philosopher Bertrand Russell’ —The Age

    ‘If you have any intellectuals hiding around the house, or know someone who fantasises about donning a smoking jacket for some “pipe time”, this charming little book is sure to appeal … This is the Christmas gift that will keep on giving in terms of guidance.’ —Courier Mail

    ‘Beautiful’ —Law Journal

    ‘Although written in 1920, it feels timely, reminding us that we’ll never accomplish anything of lasting merit if we’re constantly busy (at work, on our phones, on the internet). Grieve’s illustrations, notes and elaborations make for a beautiful package – and the ideal gift for the overachiever in your life.’ —Weekly Review

    ‘Utterly and completely delightful - and wise!’ —Heather Rose, Stella Prize winning author of The Museum of Modern Love
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBlack Inc. Books
    Release dateMay 28, 2018
    ISBN9781925203684
    Unavailable
    In Praise of Idleness: A Timeless Essay
    Author

    Bertrand Russell

    Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was born in Wales and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His long career established him as one of the most influential philosophers, mathematicians, and social reformers of the twentieth century.

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    Reviews for In Praise of Idleness

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    • 4/5
      An invaluable collection of articles by the renowned british philosopher. Reflections abour social and political issues written in the 1920s and 1930s but still relevant today since their main import is a fierce defence of free enquire, calm reflection, and a call to reason (all of them very much in need in this era of global "war on terror"!) The wit and clarity of Russell's writing shine troughout. Definitely a worthwhile reading.
    • 2/5
      I like reading the works of Bertrand Russell. He is a crisp and thoughtful writer, and a penetrating and skilled philosopher. But we can't be great at everything and unfortunately, "In Praise of Idleness" highlights Dr. Russell's naivete when it comes to social and political commentary. And more unfortunate still, the most naive essay of all is the title essay. In it, Dr. Russell outlines a vision whereby all able-bodied individuals would need only to work for four hours a day. Russell abhors work, and true to his upper-cust raisings, cannot see why it is really all that necessary. What he does not realize is that the beauty of the capitalism he so detests is that it allows the individual - rather than a majority vote or a dictator - choose how much work they will do based on how much "reward" they want. Should they want high reward, they can choose to work more and harder. Should they want less financial reward, they can choose a less stressful job. (Russell also misses the fact that, while many of us do detest work, they would detest it more if they did not own the fruits of their labor via wages in a capitalistic system. After all, many people work only because there is a financial motivator.) His essay extolling the usefulness of useless knowledge is actually quite good. Rather than arguing - as its title might suggest - against a pragmatic view of knowledge (that only "useful" knowledge is worth anything), Russell argues to expand the definition of "useful." Knowledge that contributes to an individuals mental well-being, knowledge that is interesting, and knowledge that is just plain fun to think about, is every bit as useful to individuals as knowlege that helps us dig ditches, structure economies, etc. (To be useful, knowledge need not always be SOCIALLY useful.) Much of the rest of Russell's naivete comes from offering good criticisms of fascism and communism only to forget that these criticisms may be applied to the socialism that Russell champions. The fact that centralizing power, for instance, in a dictator is a reason to jettison fascism and Marxism is every bit a reason to be wary of any attempts at political centralization - even socialist ones! To put it bluntly, Russell is so interested in his utopian vision of socialism in the abstract that he forgets to think about what socialism actually looks like in practice. (In Russell's mind, for instance, socialism somehow avoids consolidating power in an omnipotent central government. But doesn't planning need planners and delegators? And how do they differ from dictators?) To be honest, I think Bertrand Russell shows evidence in this book of a huge blindspot. As an upper-cruster, he is appalled that people have to do such dastardly things as work and contract their labor. As an upper-cruster, he thinks that a decent way of life is possible without the type of industry that requires people to work more than four hours per day. And as an upper-cruster, he believes that everyone should be guaranteed a certain level of income regardless of what they accomplish. In other words, Russell is simply not as penetrating as a social theorist as he is as a philosopher. This book is as clearly written and entertaining as other books by Russell, but he is clearly out of his element.