文档介绍：Sceptical Essays
‘Bertrand Russell wrote the best English prose of any
twentieth-century philosopher.’
Anthony Howard, The Times
‘These propositions may seem mild, yet, if accepted,
they would absolutely revolutionise human life.’
Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays
Bertrand
Russell
Sceptical Essays
With a new preface by John Gray
London and New York
First published 1928
by e Allen & Unwin Ltd, London
First published in Routledge Classics 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
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, 2004.
© 1996 The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd
Preface to Routledge Classics edition © 2004 John Gray
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised 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 Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-49865-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57424-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–32508–0 (Print Edition)
Aimer et penser: c’est la veritable vie des esprits.
Voltaire
CONTENTS
Preface to the Routledge Classics
Edition ix
1 Introduction: On the Value of Scepticism 1
2 Dreams and Facts 14
3 Is Science Superstitious? 23
4 Can Men be Rational? 32
5 Philosophy in the Twentieth Century 40
6 Machines and the Emotions 63
7 Behaviourism and Values 71
8 Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness 80
9 The Harm that Good Men Do 90
10 The Recrudescence of Puritanism 101
11 The Need for Political Scepticism 108
12 Free Thought and Offici