Bertrand Russell’s Commitment against Atomic Warfare

Bertrand Russell (chapter 1): he was an intellectual who, like very few others in history, was able to advocate for peace, demonstrating the fallacy of the reasons that drive men to war. From 1914 until his death in 1970, he never stopped fighting against violence, which he viewed as both useless and the enemy of civilization and reason (in which he placed immense hope). Russell wrote short, incisive essays capable of convincing the common man, intellectuals, and political leaders alike. His stance in the face of the potential for nuclear holocaust was neither that of a politician (who calculates the real possibilities of action) nor that of a realist political scientist (who aims to describe the situation objectively); it was that of an engaged philosopher, a man who uses the best ideas available to explain how to pursue good (or avoid evil). In short, Russell’s goal was to oppose the madness of his time with the awareness of a great intellectual and to develop a philosophy capable of shouldering the responsibility of such a challenge.