Stephen Downes

Three Passions of Bertrand Russell (and a Collection of Free Texts)
Mike Springer, Open Cultutre, February 1, 2012.

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Bertrand Russel was, I think, among other things a fundamentally good man. "Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life," wrote Bertrand Russell in the prologue to his autobiography: "the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind." (Hits Today: 1 Total: 649) [Direct Link] [Tags: none]

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Re: Three Passions of Bertrand Russell (and a Collection of Free Texts)

idabrandao, February 2, 2012

I can't resist to make a comment on Bertrand Russell and my profound admiration by this wonderful human being. I fell in love with his knowledge and life. I read his autobiography and many of his books when I was 18 years old (today I'm 57). His activism for nuclear disarmament and peace, his freedom of thought and his moral values touched me. The attacks he suffered, namely during his stay in puritan America, were shameful.

He had a long and fruitful life. As a member of the english aristicracy he had the opportunity to be introduced to the victorian minister Gladstone (19th century) and he died when he was 97 in the 60's, preserving his civic intervention all along his life, i.e. in major conflicts, like the cuban conflic, that risked a III World War.

The beauty of Internet is that it makes possible for us to access these historical documents, these old films. I had already seen these videos and had already disseminated them among my community, and am very pleased to see them disseminated in this newsletter that I follow on a daily basis (thanks Stephen Downes).

Bertrand Russell was a supporter of A.S. Neill approach to education and his Summerhill school. He himself tried an experiment to found a free school, that didn't last long. Very recently, I saw old films from the 50's (Pathé Films) on Summerhill, this is living history. As I'm exploring alternative education, I'm extremely interested in all these initiatives on democratic approaches to Education, that date back to the turn of the 19th-20th century. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]

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