the metaphysician's nightmare russell.doc

8/14/2019 The Metaphysician's nightmare Russell.doc

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The Metaphysician's Nightmare

by Bertrand Russell

Retro Me Satanas

My poor friend Andrei Bumblowski, formerly Professor of Philosophy in a now

extinct university of Central Europe, appeared to me to suffer from a harmless kind of

lunacy. am myself a person of robust common sense! hold that the intellect must

not be taken as a "uide in life, but only as affordin" pleasant ar"umentative "ames and

ways of annoyin" less a"ile opponents. Bumblowski, however, did not take this view!

he allowed his intellect to lead him whither it would, and the results were odd. #e

seldom ar"ued, and to most of his friends the "rounds of his opinions remained

obscure. $hat was known was that he consistently avoided the word %not% and all its

synonyms. #e would not say %this e"" is not fresh%, but %chemical chan"es have

occurred in this e"" since it was laid%. #e would not say % cannot find that book%, but

%the books have found are other than that book%. #e would not say %thou shalt not

kill%, but %thou shalt cherish life%. #is life was unpractical, but innocent, and felt for

him a considerable affection. t was doubtless this affection which at last unlocked his

lips, and led him to relate to me the followin" very remarkable experience, which

"ive in his own words&

had at one time a very bad fever of which almost died. n my fever had a lon"

consistent delirium. dreamt that was in #ell, and that #ell is a place full of all thosehappenin"s that are improbable but not impossible. 'he effects of this are curious.

(ome of the damned, when they first arrive below, ima"ine that they will be"uile the

tedium of eternity by "ames of cards. But they find this impossible, because,

whenever a pack is shuffled, it comes out in perfect order, be"innin" with the Ace of

(pades and endin" with the )in" of #earts. 'here is a special department of #ell for

students of probability. n this department there are many typewriters and many

monkeys. Every time that a monkey walks on a typewriter, it types by chance one of

(hakespeare%s sonnets. 'here is another place of torment for physicists. n this there

are kettles and fires, but when the kettles are put on the fires, the water in them

free*es. 'here are also stuffy rooms. But experience has tau"ht the physicists never to

open a window because, when they do, all the air rushes out and leaves the room avacuum. 'here is another re"ion for "ourmets. 'hese men are allowed the most

ex+uisite materials and the most skilful chefs. But when a beefsteak is served up to

them, and they take a confident mouthful, they find that it tastes like a rotten e""!

whereas, when they try to eat an e"", it tastes like a bad potato.

'here is a peculiarly painful chamber inhabited solely by philosophers who have

refuted #ume. 'hese philosophers, thou"h in #ell, have not learned wisdom. 'hey

continue to be "overned by their animal propensity towards induction. But every time

that they have made an induction, the next instance falsifies it. 'his, however,

happens only durin" the first hundred years of their damnation. After that, they learn

to expect that an induction will be falsified, and therefore it is not falsified until


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another century of lo"ical torment has altered their expectation. 'hrou"hout all

eternity surprise continues, but each time at a hi"her lo"ical level.

'hen there is the nferno of the orators who have been accustomed while they lived to

sway "reat multitudes by their elo+uence. 'heir elo+uence is undimmed and the

multitudes are provided, but stran"e winds blow the sounds about so that the soundsheard by the multitudes, instead of bein" those uttered by the orators, are only dull

and heavy platitudes.

At the very centre of the infernal kin"dom is (atan, to whose presence only the more

distin"uished amon" the damned are admitted. 'he improbabilities become "reater

and "reater as (atan is approached, and #e #imself is the most complete

improbability ima"inable. #e is pure othin", total non-existence, and yet continually

chan"in".

, because of my philosophical eminence, was early "iven audience with the Prince of

arkness. had read of (atan as der Geist der stetsverneint, the (pirit of e"ation.But on enterin" the Presence reali*ed with a shock that (atan has a ne"ative body as

well as a ne"ative mind. (atan%s body is, in fact, a pure and complete vacuum, empty

not only of particles of matter but also of particles of li"ht. #is prolon"ed emptiness is

secured by a climax of improbability& whenever a particle approaches #is outer

surface, it happens by chance to collide with another particle which stops it from

penetratin" the empty re"ion. 'he empty re"ion, since no li"ht ever penetrates it, is

absolutely black-not more or less black, like the thin"s to which we loosely ascribe

this word, but utterly, completely and infinitely black. t has a shape, and the shape is

that which we are accustomed to ascribe to (atan& horns, hooves, tail and all. All the

rest of #ell is filled with murky flame, and a"ainst this back"round (atan stands out

in awful ma/esty. #e is not immobile. 0n the contrary, the emptiness of which #e is

constituted is in perpetual motion. $hen anythin" annoys him, #e swin"s the horror

of #is folded tail like an an"ry cat. (ometimes #e "oes forth to con+uer new realms.

Before "oin" forth, #e clothes #imself in shinin" white armour, which completely

conceals the nothin"ness within. 0nly #is eyes remain unclothed, and from #is eyes

piercin" rays of nothin"ness shoot forth seekin" what they may con+uer. $herever

they find ne"ation, wherever they find prohibition, wherever they find a cult of not-

doin", there they enter into the inmost substance of those who are prepared to receive

#im. Every ne"ation emanates from #im and returns with a harvest of captured

frustrations. 'he captured frustrations become part of #im, and swell #is bulk until

#e threatens to fill all space. Every moralist whose morality consists of %don%ts%, everytimid man who %lets dare not wait upon would%, every tyrant who compels his

sub/ects to live in fear, becomes in time a part of (atan.

#e is surrounded by a chorus of sycophantic philosophers who have substituted

pandiabolism for pantheism. 'hese men maintain that existence is only apparent! non-

existence is the only true reality. 'hey hope in time to make the non-existence of

appearance appear, for in that moment what we now take to be existence will be seen

to be in truth only an outlyin" portion of the diabolic essence. Althou"h these

metaphysicians showed much subtlety, could not a"ree with them. had been

accustomed while on earth to oppose tyrannous authority, and this habit remained

with me in #ell. be"an to ar"ue with the metaphysical sycophants&


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%$hat you say is absurd,% expostulated. %1ou proclaim that nonexistence is the only

reality. 1ou pretend that this black hole which you worship exists. 1ou are tryin" to

persuade me that the non-existent exists. But this is a contradiction& and, however hot

the flames of #ell rpay become, will never so de"rade my lo"ical bein" as to accept

a contradiction.%

At this point the President of the sycophants took up the ar"ument& %1ou "o too fast,

my friend,% he said. %1ou deny that the non-existent exists2 But what is this to which

you deny existence2 f the non-existent is nothin", any statement about it is nonsense.

And so is your statement that it does not exist. am afraid you have paid too little

attention to the lo"ical analysis of sentences, which ou"ht to have been tau"ht you

when you were a boy. o you not know that every sentence has a sub/ect, and that, if

the sub/ect were nothin", the sentence would be nonsense2 (o, when you proclaim,

with virtuous heat, that (atan-who is the nonexistent-does not exist, you are plainly

contradictin" yourself.%

%1ou%, replied, %have no doubt been here for some time and continue to embracesomewhat anti+uated doctrines. 1ou prate of sentences havin" sub/ects, but all that

sort of talk is out of date. $hen say that (atan, who is the non-existent, does not

exist, mention neither (atan nor the non-existent, but only the word 3(atan3 and the

word 3non-existent3. 1our fallacies have revealed to me a "reat truth. 'he "reat truth

is that the word 3not3 is superfluous. #enceforth will not use the word 3not3. At this

all the assembled metaphysicians burst into a shout of lau"hter. %#ark how the fellow

contradicts himself,% they said when the paroxysm ,of merriment had subsided. %#ark

at his "reat commandment which is to avoid ne"ation. #e will NOT use the word

3not3, forsooth4%

'hou"h was nettled, kept my temper. had in my pocket a dictionary. scratched

out all the words expressin" ne"ation and said& %My speech shall be composed entirely

of the words that remain in this dictionary. By the help of these words that remain,

shall be able to describe every thin" in the universe. My descriptions will be many,

but they will all be of thin"s other than (atan. (atan has rei"ned too lon" in this

infernal realm. #is shinin" armour was real and inspired terror, but underneath the

armour there was only a bad lin"uistic habit. Avoid the word 3not3, and #is empire is

at an end.%

(atan, as the ar"ument proceeded, lashed #is tail with ever-increasin" fury, and

sava"e rays of darkness shot from #is cavernous eyes. But at the last, when denounced #im as a bad lin"uistic habit, there was a vast explosion, the air rushed in

from all sides, and the horrid shape vanished. 'he murky air of #ell, which had been

due to inspissated rays of nothin"ness, cleared as if by ma"ic. $hat had seemed to be

monkeys at the typewriters w ere suddenly seen to be literary critics. 'he kettles

boiled, the cards were /umbled, a fresh bree*e blew in at the windows, and the

beefsteaks tasted like beefsteaks. $ith a sense of ex+uisite liberation, awoke. saw

that there had been wisdom in my dream, however it mi"ht have worn the "uise of

delirium. 5rom that moment the fever abated, but the delirium-as you may think it-has

remained.


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Josef Stalin's Nightmare

by Betrand Russell

AMOR VN!T OMNA

Stalin, after copious draughts of vodka mixed with red pepper, had fallen asleep in

his chair. Molotov, Malenkov, and Beria, with fingers to their lips, warned off

intrusive domestics who might interfere with the great man's repose. While the

guarded him, he had a dream, and what he dreamt was as follows!

The Third "orld "ar had been fought and lost# $e %as a capti&e in the

hands of the "estern Allies# But they ha&ing obser&ed that the Nuremberg trials

generated sympathy for the Na(is decided this time to adopt a different plan)

Stalin %as handed o&er to a committee of eminent *ua+ers %ho contended that

e&en he by the po%er of lo&e could be led to repentance and to the life of a

decent citi(en#

t %as reali(ed that until their spiritual %or+ had been completed the

%indo%s of his room must be barred lest he should be guilty of a rash act and he

must not be allo%ed access to +ni&es lest in a fit of fury he should attach those

engaged in his regeneration# $e %as housed comfortably in t%o rooms of an old

country house but the doors %ere loc+ed e,cept during the one hour of e&ery

day %hen in the company of four muscular *ua+ers he %as ta+en for a bris+%al+ during %hich he %as encouraged to admire the beauties of nature and

en-oy the song of the lar+# .uring the rest of the day he %as allo%ed to read and

%rite but he %as not allo%ed any literature that might be considered

inflammatory# $e %as gi&en the BiblePilgrim's Progress and Uncle Tom's

Cabin.And sometimes for a treat he %as allo%ed the no&els of !harlotte M#

/onge# $e %as allo%ed no tobacco no alcohol and no red pepper# !ocoa he

might ha&e at any hour of the day and night since the most eminent of his

guardians %ere pur&eyors of that innocent be&erage# Tea and coffee %ere

permitted in moderation but not in such 0uantities or at such time as might

interfere %ith a %holesome night's repose#

.uring one hour of e&ery morning and one hour of e&ery e&ening the gra&e

men to %hose care he had been entrusted e,plained the principles of !hristian

charity and the happiness that might yet be his if he %ould but ac+no%ledge

their %isdom# The tas+ of reasoning %ith him fell especially upon the three men

%ho %ere accounted %isest among those %ho hoped to ma+e him see the light#

These %ere the Mr# Tobias Toogood Mr# Samuel S%ete and Mr# "ilabraham

"eldon#

$e had been ac0uainted %ith these men in the days of his greatness# Not long

before the outbrea+ of the Third "orld "ar they had -ourneyed to Mosco% to

plead %ith him and endea&or to con&ince him of the error of his %ays# They hadtal+ed to him of uni&ersal bene&olence and !hristian lo&e# They had spo+en in


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glo%ing terms of the -oys of mee+ness and had tried to persuade him that there

is more happiness in being lo&ed than in being feared# 1or a little %hile he had

listened %ith a patience produced by astonishment and then he had burst out at

them# 2"hat do you gentleman +no% of the -oys of life32 he had stormed# 2$o%

little you understand of the into,icating delight of dominating a %hole nation by

terror +no%ing that almost all desire your death and that none can compass it+no%ing that your enemies throughout the %orld are engaged in futile attempts

to guess your secret thoughts +no%ing that your po%er %ill sur&i&e the

e,termination not only of your enemies but of your friends# No gentlemen the

%ay of life you offer does not attract me# 4o bac+ to your pettifogging pursuit of

profit gilded %ith a pretense of piety but lea&e me to my more heroic %ay of

life#2

The *ua+ers baffled for the moment %ent home to %ait for a better

opportunity# Stalin fallen and in their po%er might they no% hoped sho%

himself more amenable# Strange to say he still pro&ed stubborn# They %ere men

%ho had had much practice %ith -u&enile delin0uents unra&eling theircomple,es and leading them by gentle persuasion to the belief that honesty is the

best policy#

2Mr# Stalin2 said Tobias Toogood 2%e hope that you no% reali(e the

un%isdom of the %ay of life to %hich you ha&e hitherto adhered# shall say

nothing of the ruin you ha&e brought upon the %orld for that you %ill assure

me lea&es you cold# But consider %hat you ha&e brought upon yourself# /ou

ha&e fallen from your high estate to the condition of a humble prisoner o%ing

%hat comforts you retain to the fact that gaolers do not accept your ma,ims# The

fierce -oys of %hich you spo+e %hen %e &isited you in the days of your greatness

can no longer be yours# But if you could brea+ do%n the barrier of pride if you

could repent if you could learn to find happiness in the happiness of others

there might yet be for you some purpose and some tolerable contentment during

the remainder of your days#2

At this point Stalin leapt to his feet and e,claimed) 2$ell ta+e you you

sni&eling hypocrite# understand nothing of %hat you say e,cept that you are on

top and am at your mercy and that you ha&e found a %ay of insulting my

misfortunes more galling and more humiliating than any in&ented in my

purges#2

2Oh Mr# Stalin2 said Mr# S%ete 2ho% can you be so un-ust and so un+ind3

!an you not see that %e ha&e none but the most bene&olent intentions to%ards

you3 !an you not see that %e %ish to sa&e your soul and that %e deplore the

&iolence and hatred that you promoted among your enemies as among your

friends3 "e ha&e no %ish to humiliate you and could you but appreciate earthly

greatness at no more than its true %orth you %ould see that it is an escape from

humiliation that %e are offering you#2

2This is really too much2 shouted Stalin# 2"hen %as a boy put up %ith

tal+ li+e this in my 4eorgian seminary but it is not the sort of tal+ to %hich a

gro%n man can listen %ith patience# %ish belie&ed in $ell that might loo+


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for%ard to the pleasures of seeing your blandness dissipated by scorching

flames#2

2Oh fie my dear Stalin52 said Mr# "eldon# 26ray do not e,cite yourself for

it is only by calmness that you %ill learn to see the %isdom of %hat %e are trying

to sho% you#2

Before Stalin could retort Mr# Toogood once again inter&ened) 2 am sure

Mr# Stalin2 he said 2that a man of your great intelligence cannot fore&er

remain blind to the truth but at the moment you are o&er%rought and suggest

that a soothing cup of cocoa might be better for you than the unduly stimulating

tea you ha&e been drin+ing#2

At this moment Stalin could no longer contain himself# $e too+ the teapot

and hurled it at Mr# Toogood's head# The scalding li0uid poured do%n his face

but he only said 2There there Mr# Stalin that is no argument#2 n a paro,ysm

of rage Stalin a%o+e# 1or a moment the rage continued and &ented itself uponMoloto& Malen+o& and Beria %ho trembled and turned pale# But as the clouds

of sleep cleared a%ay his rage e&aporated and he found contentment in a deep

draught of &od+a and red pepper#


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'he 'heolo"ian%s i"htmare

by Bertrand 6ussell

from"act and "iction, 7897

'he eminent theolo"ian r. 'haddeus dreamt that he died and pursued his course

toward heaven. #is studies had prepared him and he had no difficulty in findin" the

way. #e knocked at the door of heaven, and was met with a closer scrutiny than he

expected. 3 ask admission,3 he said, 3because was a "ood man and devoted my life

to the "lory of :od.3 3Man23 said the /anitor, 3$hat is that2 And how could such a

funny creature as you do anythin" to promote the "lory of :od23 r. 'haddeus was

astonished. 31ou surely cannot be i"norant of man. 1ou must be aware that man is

the supreme work of the Creator.3 3As to that,3 said the /anitor, 3 am sorry to hurtyour feelin"s, but what you%re sayin" is news to me. doubt if anybody up here has

ever heard of this thin" you call %man.% #owever, since you seem distressed, you shall

have a chance of consultin" our librarian.3

'he librarian, a "lobular bein" with a thousand eyes and one mouth, bent some of his

eyes upon r. 'haddeus. 3$hat is this23 he asked the /anitor. 3'his,3 replied the

/anitor, 3says that it is a member of a species called %man,% which lives in a place

called %Earth.% t has some odd notion that the Creator takes a special interest in this

place and this species. thou"ht perhaps you could enli"hten it.3 3$ell,3 said the

librarian kindly to the theolo"ian, 3perhaps you can tall me where this place is that

you call %Earth.%3 30h,3 said the theolo"ian, 3it%s part of the (olar (ystem.3 3And whatis the (olar (ystem23 asked the librarian. 30h,3 said the theolo"ian, somewhat

disconcerted, 3my province was (acred )nowled"e, but the +uestion that you are

askin" belon"s to profane knowled"e. #owever, have learnt enou"h from my

astronomical friends to be able to tell you that the (olar (ystem is part of the Milky

$ay.3 3And what is the Milky $ay23 asked the librarian. 30h, the Milky $ay is one

of the :alaxies, of which, am told, there are some hundred million.3 3$ell, well,3

said the librarian, 3you could hardly expect me to remember one out of so many. But

do remember to have heard the word "alaxy% before. n fact, believe that one of our

sub-librarians speciali*es in "alaxies. ;et us send for him and see whether he can

help.3

After no very lon" time, the "alactic sub-librarian made his appearance. n shape, he

was a dodecahedron. t was clear that at one time his surface had been bri"ht, but the

dust of the shelves had rendered him dim and opa+ue. 'he librarian explained to him

that r. 'haddeus, in endeavorin" to account for his ori"in, had mentioned "alaxies,

and it was hoped that information could be obtained from the "alactic section of the

library. 3$ell,3 said the sub-librarian, 3 suppose it mi"ht become possible in time,

but as there are a hundred million "alaxies, and each has a volume to itself, it takes

some time to find any particular volume. $hich is it that this odd molecule desires23

3t is the one called %'he Milky $ay,%3 r. 'haddeus falterin"ly replied. 3All ri"ht,3

said the sub- librarian, 3 will find it if can.3


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(ome three weeks later, he returned, explainin" that the extraordinarily efficient card

index in the "alactic section of the library had enabled him to locate the "alaxy as

number ?7,@9?. 3$e have employed,3 he said, 3all the five thousand clerks in

the "alactic section on this search. Perhaps you would like to see the clerk who is

specially concerned with the "alaxy in +uestion23 'he clerk was sent for and turned

out to be an octahedron with an eye in each face and a mouth in one of them. #e wassurprised and da*ed to find himself in such a "litterin" re"ion, away from the

shadowy limbo of his shelves. Pullin" himself to"ether, he asked, rather shyly, 3$hat

is it you wish to know about my "alaxy23 r. 'haddeus spoke up& 3$hat want is to

know about the (olar (ystem, a collection of heavenly bodies revolvin" about one of

the stars in your "alaxy. 'he star about which they revolve is called %the (un.%3

3#umph,3 said the librarian of the Milky $ay, 3it was hard enou"h to hit upon the

ri"ht "alaxy, but to hit upon the ri"ht star in the "alaxy is far more difficult. know

that there are about three hundred billion stars in the "alaxy, but have no knowled"e,

myself, that would distin"uish one of them from another. believe, however, that at

one time a list of the whole three hundred billion was demanded by the

Administration and that it is still stored in the basement. f you think it worth while, will en"a"e special labor from the 0ther Place to search for this particular star.3

t was a"reed that, since the +uestion had arisen and since r. 'haddeus was evidently

sufferin" some distress, this mi"ht be the wisest course.

(everal years later, a very weary and dispirited tetrahedron presented himself before

the "alactic sub-librarian. 3 have,3 he said, 3at last discovered the particular star

concernin" which in+uiries have been made, but am +uite at a loss to ima"ine why it

has aroused any special interest. t closely resembles a "reat many other stars in the

same "alaxy. t is of avera"e si*e and temperature, and is surrounded by very much

smaller bodies called %planets.% After minute investi"ation, discovered that some, at

least, of these planets have parasites, and think that this thin" which has been

makin" in+uiries must be one of them.3

At this point, r. 'haddeus burst out in a passionate and indi"nant lament& 3$hy, oh

why, did the Creator conceal from us poor inhabitants of Earth that it was not we who

prompted #im to create the #eavens2 'hrou"hout my lon" life, have served #im

dili"ently, believin" that #e would notice my service and reward me with Eternal

Bliss. And now, it seems that #e was not even aware that existed. 1ou tell me that

am an infinitesimal animalcule on a tiny body revolvin" round an insi"nificant

member of a collection of three hundred billion stars, which is only one of manymillions of such collections. cannot bear it, and can no lon"er adore my Creator.3

3ery well,3 said the /anitor, 3then you can "o to the 0ther Place.3

#ere the theolo"ian awoke. 3'he power of (atan over our sleepin" ima"ination is

terrifyin",3 he muttered.


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An Outline of ntellectual Rubbish

by Bertrand Russell

Man is a rational animal-so at least have been told. 'hrou"hout a lon" life, have

looked dili"ently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far have not had the

"ood fortune to come across it, thou"h have searched in many countries spread over

three continents. 0n the contrary, have seen the world plun"in" continually further

into madness. have seen "reat nations, formerly leaders of civili*ation, led astray by

preachers of bombastic nonsense. have seen cruelty, persecution, and superstition

increasin" by leaps and bounds, until we have almost reached the point where praise

of rationality is held to mark a man as an old fo"ey re"rettably survivin" from a

by"one a"e. All this is depressin", but "loom is a useless emotion. n order to escape

from it, have been driven to study the past with more attention than had formerly

"iven to it, and have found, as Erasmus found, that folly is perennial and yet the

human race has survived. 'he follies of our own times are easier to bear when they

are seen a"ainst the back"round of past follies. n what follows shall mix the

sillinesses of our day with those of former centuries. Perhaps the result may help in

seein" our own times in perspective, and as not much worse than other a"es that our

ancestors lived throu"h without ultimate disaster.

Aristotle, so far as know, was the first man to proclaim explicitly that man is a

rational animal. #is reason for this view was one which does not now seem veryimpressive! it was, that some people can do sums. #e thou"ht that there are three

kinds of soul& the ve"etable soul, possessed by all livin" thin"s, both plants and

animals, and concerned only with nourishment and "rowth! the animal soul,

concerned with locomotion, and shared by man with the lower animals! and finally

the rational soul, or intellect, which is the ivine mind, but in which men participate

to a "reater or less de"ree in proportion to their wisdom. t is in virtue of the intellect

that man is a rational animal. 'he intellect is shown in various ways, but most

emphatically by mastery of arithmetic. 'he :reek system of numerals was very bad,

so that the multiplication table was +uite difficult, and complicated calculations could

only be made by very clever people. ow-a-days, however, calculatin" machines do

sums better than even the cleverest people, yet no one contends that these usefulinstruments are immortal, or work by divine inspiration. As arithmetic has "rown

easier, it has come to be less respected. 'he conse+uence is that, thou"h many

philosophers continue to tell us what fine fellows we are, it is no lon"er on account of

our arithmetical skill that they praise us.

(ince the fashion of the a"e no lon"er allows us to point to calculatin" boys as

evidence that man is rational and the soul, at least in part, immortal, let us look

elsewhere. $here shall we look first2 (hall we look amon" eminent statesmen, who

have so triumphantly "uided the world into its present condition2 0r shall we choose

the men of letters2 0r the philosophers2 All these have their claims, but 7 think we

should be"in with those whom all ri"ht thinkin" people acknowled"e to be the wisestas well as the best of men, namely the cler"y. f the fail to be rational, what hope is


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there for us lesser mortals2 And alas-thou"h say it with all due respect-there have

been times when their wisdom has not been very obvious, and, stran"e to say, these

were especially the times when the power of the cler"y was "reatest.

'he A"es of 5aith, which are praised by our neo-scholastics, were the time when the

cler"y had thin"s all their own way. aily life was full of miracles wrou"ht by saintsand wi*ardry perpetrated by devils and necromancers. Many thousands of witches

were burnt at the stake. Men%s sins were punished by pestilence and famine, by

earth+uake, flood, and fire. And yet, stran"e to say, they were even more sinful than

they are now-a-days. ery little was known scientifically about the world. A few

learned men remembered :reek proofs that the earth is round, but most people made

fun of the notion that there are antipodes. 'o suppose that there are human bein"s at

the antipodes was heresy. t was "enerally held thou"h modem Catholics take a

milder view that the immense ma/ority of mankind are damned. an"ers were held to

lurk at every turn. evils would settle on the food that monks were about to eat, and

would take possession of the bodies of incautious feeders who omitted to make the

si"n of the Cross before each mouthful. 0ld-fashioned people still say 3bless you3when one snee*es, but they have for"otten the reason for the custom. 'he reason was

that people were thou"ht to snee*e out their souls, and before their souls could "et

back lurkin" demons were apt to enter the unsouled body! but if any one said 3:od

bless you,3 the demons were fri"htened off.

'hrou"hout the last D years, durin" which the "rowth of science had "radually

shown men how to ac+uire knowled"e of the ways of nature and mastery over natural

forces, the cler"y have fou"ht a losin" battle a"ainst science, in astronomy and

"eolo"y, in anatomy and physiolo"y, in biolo"y and psycholo"y and sociolo"y.

0usted from one position, they have taken up another. After bein" worsted in

astronomy, they did their best to prevent the rise of "eolo"y! they fou"ht a"ainst

arwin in biolo"y, and at the present time they fi"ht a"ainst scientific theories of

psycholo"y and education. At each sta"e, they try to make the public for"et their

earlier obscurantism, in order that their present obscurantism may not be reco"ni*ed

for what it is. ;et us note a few instances of irrationality amon" the cler"y since the

rise of science, and then in+uire whether the rest of mankind are any better.

$hen Ben/amin 5ranklin invented the li"htnin" rod, the cler"y, both in En"land and

America, with the enthusiastic support of :eor"e , condemned it as an impious

attempt to defeat the will of :od. 5or, as all ri"ht-thinkin" people were aware,

li"htnin" is sent by :od to punish impiety or some other "rave sin-the virtuous arenever struck by li"htnin". 'herefore if :od wants to strike any one, Ben/amin

5ranklin ou"ht not to defeat #is desi"n! indeed, to do so is helpin" criminals to

escape. But :od was e+ual to the occasion, if we are to believe the eminent r. Price,

one of the leadin" divines of Boston. ;i"htnin" havin" been rendered ineffectual by

the 3iron points invented by the sa"acious r. 5ranklin,3 Massachusetts was shaken

by earth+uakes, which r. Price perceived to be due to :od%s wrath at the 3iron

points.3 n a sermon on the sub/ect he said, 3n Boston are more erected than

elsewhere in ew En"land, and Boston seems to be more dreadfully shaken. 0h4

there is no "ettin" out of the mi"hty hand of :od.3 Apparently, however, Providence

"ave up all hope of curin" Boston of its wickedness, for, thou"h li"htnin" rods

became more and more common, earth+uakes in Massachusetts have remained rare.evertheless, r. Price%s point of view, or somethin" very like it, is still held by one


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of the most influential of livin" men. $hen, at one time, there were several bad

earth+uakes in ndia, Mahatma :andhi solemnly warned his compatriots that these

disasters had been sent as a punishment for their sins.

Even in my own native island this point of view still exists. urin" the last war, the

British :overnment did much to stimulate the production of food at home. n 7879,when thin"s were not "oin" well, a (cottish cler"yman wrote to the newspapers to say

that military failure was due to the fact that, with "overnment sanction, potatoes had

been planted on the (abbath. #owever, disaster was averted, owin" to the fact that the

:ermans disobeyed all the 'en Commandments, and not only one of them.

(ometimes, if pious men are to be believed, :od%s mercies are curiously selective.

'oplady, the author of 36ock of A"es,3 moved from one vicara"e to another! a week

after the move, the vicara"e he had formerly occupied burnt down, with "reat loss to

the new vicar. 'hereupon 'oplady thanked :od! but what the new vicar did is not

known. Borrow, in his 3Bible in (pain,3 records how without mishap he crossed a

mountain pass infested by bandits. 'he next party to cross, however, were set upon,robbed, and some of them murdered! when Borrow heard of this, he, like 'oplady,

thanked :od.

Althou"h we are tau"ht the Copernican astronomy in our textbooks, it has not yet

penetrated to our reli"ion or our morals, and has not even succeeded in destroyin"

belief in astrolo"y. People still think that the ivine Plan has special reference to

human bein"s, and that a special Providence not only looks after the "ood, but also

punishes the wicked. am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think

themselves pious-for instance, the nuns who never take a bath without wearin" a

bathrobe all the time. $hen asked why, since no man can see them, they reply& 30h,

but you for"et the "ood :od.3 Apparently they conceive of the eity as a Peepin"

'om, whose omnipotence enables #im to see throu"h bathroom walls, but who is

foiled by bathrobes. 'his view strikes me as curious.

'he whole conception of 3(in3 is one which find very pu**lin", doubtless owin" to

my sinful nature. f 3(in3 consisted in causin" needless sufferin", could understand!

but on the contrary, sin often consists in avoidin" needless sufferin". (ome years a"o,

in the En"lish #ouse of ;ords, a bill was introduced to le"ali*e euthanasia in cases of

painful and incurable disease. 'he patient%s consent was to be necessary, as well as

several medical certificates. 'o me, in my simplicity, it would seem natural to re+uire

the patient%s consent, but the late Archbishop of Canterbury, the En"lish officialexpert on (in, explained the erroneousness of such a view. 'he patient%s consent turns

euthanasia into suicide, and suicide is sin. 'heir ;ordships listened to the voice of

authority, and re/ected the bill. Conse+uently, to please the Archbishop-and his :od,

if he reports truly-victims of cancer still have to endure months of wholly useless

a"ony, unless their doctors or nurses are sufficiently humane to risk a char"e of

murder. find difficulty in the conception of a :od who "ets pleasure from

contemplatin" such tortures! and if there were a :od capable of such wanton cruelty,

should certainly not think #im worthy of worship. But that only proves how sunk

am in moral depravity.

am e+ually pu**led by the thin"s that are sin and by the thin"s that are not. $henthe (ociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asked the pope for his support,


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he refused it, on the "round that human bein"s owe no duty to the lower animals, and

that ill-treatin" animals is not sinful. 'his is because animals have no souls. 0n the

other hand, it is wicked to marry your deceased wife%s sister-so at least the Church

teaches-however much you and she may wish to marry. 'his is not because of any

unhappiness that mi"ht result, but because of certain texts in the Bible.

'he resurrection of the body, which is an article of the Apostles% Creed, is a do"ma

which has various curious conse+uences. 'here was an author not very many years

a"o, who had an in"enious method of calculatin" the date of the end of the world. #e

ar"ued that there must be enou"h of the necessary in"redients of a human body to

provide everybody with the re+uisites at the ;ast ay. By carefully calculatin" the

available raw material, he decided that it would all have been used up by a certain

date. $hen that date comes, the world must end, since otherwise the resurrection of

the body would become impossible. Fnfortunately have for"otten what the date was,

but believe it is not very distant.

(t. 'homas A+uinas, the official philosopher of the Catholic Church, discussedlen"thily and seriously a very "rave problem, which, fear, modern theolo"ians

unduly ne"lect. #e ima"ines a cannibal who has never eaten anythin" but human

flesh, and whose father and mother before him had like propensities. Every particle of

his body belon"s ri"htfully to someone else. $e cannot suppose that those who have

been eaten by cannibals are to "o short throu"h all eternity. But, if not, what is left for

the cannibal2 #ow is he to be properly roasted in hell, if all his body is restored to its

ori"inal owners2 'his is a pu**lin" +uestion, as the (aint ri"htly perceives.

n this connection the orthodox have a curious ob/ection to cremation, which seems to

show an insufficient reali*ation of :od%s omnipotence. t is thou"ht that a body which

has been burnt will be more difficult for #im to collect to"ether a"ain than one which

has been put under"round and transformed into worms. o doubt collectin" the

particles from the air and undoin" the chemical work of combustion would be

somewhat laborious, but it is surely blasphemous to suppose such a work impossible

for the eity. conclude that the ob/ection to cremation implies "rave heresy. But

doubt whether my opinion will carry much wei"ht with the orthodox.

t was only very slowly and reluctantly that the Church sanctioned the dissection of

corpses in connection with the study of medicine. 'he pioneer in dissection was

esalius, who was Court physician to the Emperor Charles . #is medical skill led

the emperor to protect him, but after the emperor was dead he "ot into trouble. Acorpse which he was dissectin" was said to have shown si"ns of life under the knife,

and he was accused of murder. 'he n+uisition was induced by )in" Phillip to take

a lenient view, and only sentenced him to a pil"rima"e to the #oly ;and. 0n the way

home he was shipwrecked and died of exhaustion. 5or centuries after this time,

medical students at the Papal Fniversity in 6ome were only allowed to operate on lay

fi"ures, from which the sexual parts were omitted.

'he sacredness of corpses is a widespread belief. t was carried furthest by the

E"yptians, amon" whom it led to the practice of mummification. t still exists in full

force in China. A 5rench sur"eon, who was employed by the Chinese to teach

$estern medicine, relates that his demand for corpses to dissect was received withhorror, but he was assured that he could have instead an unlimited supply of live


13/30

criminals. #is ob/ection to this alternative was totally unintelli"ible to his Chinese

employers.

Althou"h there are many kinds of sin, seven of which are deadly, the most fruitful

field for (atan%s wiles is sex. 'he orthodox Catholic doctrine on this sub/ect is to be

found in (t. Paul, (t. Au"ustine, and (t. 'homas A+uinas. t is best to be celibate, butthose who have not the "ift of continence may marry. ntercourse in marria"e is not

sin, provided it is motivated by desire for offsprin". All intercourse outside marria"e

is sin, and so is intercourse within marria"e if any measures are adopted to prevent

conception. nterruption of pre"nancy is sin, even if, in medical opinion, it is the only

way of savin" the mother%s life! for medical opinion is fallible, and :od can always

save a life by miracle if #e sees fit. 'his view is embodied in the law of

Connecticut. enereal disease is :od%s punishment for sin. t is true that, throu"h a

"uilty husband, this punishment may fall on an innocent woman and her children, but

this is a mysterious dispensation of Providence, which it would be impious to

+uestion. $e must also not in+uire why venereal disease was not divinely instituted

until the time of Columbus. (ince it is the appointed penalty for sin, all measures forits avoidance are also sin-except, of course, a virtuous life. Marria"e is nominally

indissoluble, but many people who seem to be married are not. n the case of

influential Catholics, some "round for nullity can often be found, but for the poor

there is no such outlet, except perhaps in cases of impotence. Persons who divorce

and remarry are "uilty of adultery in the si"ht of :od.

'he phrase 3in the si"ht of :od3 pu**les me. 0ne would suppose that :od sees

everythin", but apparently this is a mistake. #e does not see 6eno, for you cannot be

divorced in the si"ht of :od. 6e"istry offices are a doubtful point. notice that

respectable people, who would not call on anybody who lives in open sin, are +uite

willin" to call on people who have had only a civil marria"e! so apparently :od does

see re"istry offices.

(ome eminent men think even the doctrine of the Catholic Church deplorably lax

where sex is concerned. 'olstoy and Mahatma :andhi, in their old a"e, laid it down

that allsexual intercourse is wicked, even in marria"e and with a view to offsprin".

'he Manicheans thou"ht likewise, relyin" upon men%s native sinfulness to supply

them with a continually fresh crop of disciples. 'his doctrine, however, is heretical,

thou"h it is e+ually heretical to maintain that marria"e is as praiseworthy as celibacy.

'olstoy thinks tobacco almost as bad as sex! in one of his novels, a man who is

contemplatin" murder smokes a ci"arette first in order to "enerate the necessaryhomicidal fury. 'obacco, however, is not prohibited in the (criptures, thou"h, as

(amuel Butler points at, (t. Paul would no doubt have denounced it if he had known

of it.

t is odd that neither the Church nor modern public opinion condemns pettin",

provided it stops short at a certain point. At what point sin be"ins is a matter as to

which casuists differ. 0ne eminently orthodox Catholic divine laid it down that a

confessor may fondle a nun%s breasts, provided he does it without evil intent. But

doubt whether modern authorities would a"ree with him on this point.

Modern morals are a mixture of two elements& on the one hand, rational precepta as tohow to live to"ether peaceably in a society, and on the other hand traditional taboos


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derived ori"inally from some ancient superstition, but proximately from sacred books,

Christian, Mohammedan, #indu, or Buddhist. 'o some extent the two a"ree! the

prohibition of murder and theft, for instance, is supported both by human reason and

by ivine command. But the prohibition of pork or beef has only scriptural authority,

and that only in certain reli"ions. t is odd that modern men, who are aware of what

science has done in the way of brin"in" new knowled"e and alterin" the conditions ofsocial life, should still be willin" to accept the authority of texts embodyin" the

outlook of very ancient and very i"norant pastoral or a"ricultural tribes. t is

discoura"in" that many of the precepts whose sacred character is thus uncritically

acknowled"ed should be such as to inflict much wholly unnecessary misery. f men%s

kindly impulses were stron"er, they would find some way of explainin" that these

precepts are not to be taken literally, any more than the command to 3sell all that thou

hast and "ive to the poor.3

'here are lo"ical difficulties in the notion of sin. $e are told that sin consists in

disobedience to :od%s commands, but we are also told that :od is omnipotent. f #e

is, nothin" contrary to #is will can occur! therefore when the sinner disobeys #iscommands, #e must have intended this to happen. (t. Au"ustine boldly accepts this

view, and asserts that men are led to sin by a blindness with which :od afflicts them.

But most theolo"ians, in modern times, have felt that, if :od causes men to sin, it is

not fair to send them to hell for what they cannot help. $e are told that sin consists in

actin" contrary to :od%s will. 'his, however, does not "et rid of the difficulty. 'hose

who, like (pino*a, take :od%s omnipotence seriously, deduce that there can be no

such thin" as sin. 'his leads to fri"htful results. $hat4 said (pino*a%s contemporaries,

was it not wicked of ero to murder his mother2 $as it not wicked of Adam to eat

the apple2 s one action /ust as "ood as another2 (pino*a wri""les, but does not find

any satisfactory answer. f everythin" happens in accordance with :od%s will, :od

must have wanted ero to murder his mother! therefore, since :od is "ood, the

murder must have been a "ood thin". 5rom this ar"ument there is no escape.

0n the other hand, those who are in earnest in thinkin" that sin is disobedience to :od

are compelled to say that :od is not omnipotent. 'his "ets out of all the lo"ical

pu**les, and is the view adopted by a certain school of liberal theolo"ians. t has,

however, its own difficulties. #ow are we to know what really is :od%s will2 f the

forces of evil have a certain share of power, they may deceive us into acceptin" as

(cripture what is really their work. 'his was the view of the :nostics, who thou"ht

that the 0ld 'estament was the work of an evil spirit.

As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there

is no end to our troubles. $hose authority2 'he 0ld 'estament2 'he ew 'estament2

'he )oran2 n practice, people choose the book considered sacred by the community

in which they are born, and out of that book they choose the parts they like, i"norin"

the others. At one time, the most influential text in the Bible was& 3'hou shalt not

suffer a witch to live.3 ow-a-days, people pass over this text, in silence if possible! if

not, with an apolo"y. And so, even when we have a sacred book, we still choose as

truth whatever suits our own pre/udices. o Catholic, for instance, takes seriously the

text which says that a bishop should be the husband of one wife.

People%s beliefs have various causes. 0ne is that there is some evidence for the beliefin +uestion. $e apply this to matters of fact, such as 3what is so-and-so%s telephone


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number23 or 3who won the $orld (eries23 But as soon as it comes to anythin" more

debatable, the causes of belief become less defensible. $e believe, first and foremost,

what makes us feel that we are fine fellows. Mr. #omo, if he has a "ood di"estion and

a sound income, thinks to himself how much more sensible he is than his nei"hbor so-

and-so, who married a fli"hty wife and is always losin" money. #e thinks how

superior his city is to the one G miles away& it has a bi""er Chamber of Commerceand a more enterprisin" 6otary Club, and its mayor has never been in prison. #e

thinks how immeasurably his country surpasses all others. f he is an En"lishman, he

thinks of (hakespeare and Milton, or of ewton and arwin, or of elson and

$ellin"ton, accordin" to his temperament. f he is a 5renchman, he con"ratulates

himself on the fact that for centuries 5rance has led the world in culture, fashions, and

cookery. f he is a 6ussian, he reflects that he belon"s to the only nation which is truly

international. f he is a 1u"oslav, he boasts of his nation%s pi"s! if a native of the

Principality of Monaco, he boasts of leadin" the world in the matter of "amblin".

But these are not the only matters on which he has to con"ratulate himself. 5or is he

not an individual of the species homosapiens# Alone amon" animals he has animmortal soul, and is rational! he knows the difference between "ood and evil, and

has learnt the multiplication table. id not :od make him in #is own ima"e2 And

was not everythin" created for man%s convenience2 'he sun was made to li"ht the day,

and the moon to li"ht the ni"ht--thou"h the moon, by some oversi"ht, only shines

durin" half the nocturnal hours. 'he raw fruits of the earth were made for human

sustenance. Even the white tails of rabbits, accordin" to some theolo"ians, have a

purpose, namely to make it easier for sportsmen to shoot them. 'here are, it is true,

some inconveniences& lions and ti"ers are too fierce, the summer is too hot, and the

winter too cold. But these thin"s only be"an after Adam ate the apple! before that, all

animals were ve"etarians, and the season was always sprin". f only Adam had been

content with peaches and nectarines, "rapes and pears and pineapples, these blessin"s

would still be ours.

(elf-importance, individual or "eneric, is the source of most of our reli"ious beliefs.

Even sin is a conception derived from self-importance. Borrow relates how he met a

$elsh preacher who was always melancholy. By sympathetic +uestionin" he was

brou"ht to confess the source of his sorrow& that at the a"e of seven he had committed

the sin a"ainst the #oly :host. 3My dear fellow,3 said Borrow, 3don%t let that trouble

you! know do*ens of people in like case. o not ima"ine yourself cut off from the

rest of mankind by this occurrence! if you in+uire, you will find multitudes who suffer

from the same misfortune.3 5rom that moment, the man was cured. #e had en/oyedfeelin" sin"ular, but there was no pleasure in bein" one of a herd of sinners. Most

sinners are rather less e"otistical! but theolo"ians undoubtedly en/oy the feelin" that

Man is the special ob/ect of :od%s wrath, as well as of #is love. After the 5all-so

Milton assures us-

'he (un #ad first his precept so to move, so shine, As mi"ht affect the Earth with

cold and heat (carce tolerable, and from the orth to call ecrepit $inter, from the

(outh to brin" (olstitial summer%s heat.

#owever disa"reeable the results may have been, Adam could hardly help feelin"

flattered that such vast astronomical phenomena should be brou"ht about to teach hima lesson. 'he whole of theolo"y, in re"ard to hell no less than to heaven, takes it for


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"ranted that Man is what is of most importance in the Fniverse of created bein"s.

(ince all theolo"ians are men, this postulate has met with little opposition.

(ince evolution became fashionable, the "lorification of Man has taken a new form.

$e are told that evolution has been "uided by one "reat Purpose& throu"h the millions

of years when there were only slime, or trilobites, throu"hout the a"es of dinosaursand "iant ferns, of bees and wild flowers, :od was preparin" the :reat Climax. At

last, in the fullness of time, #e produced Man, includin" such specimens as ero and

Cali"ula, #itler and Mussolini, whose transcendent "lory /ustified the lon" painful

process. 5or my part, find even eternal damnation less incredible, and certainly less

ridiculous, than this lame and impotent conclusion which we are asked to admire as

the supreme effort of 0mnipotence. And if :od is indeed omnipotent, why could #e

not have produced the "lorious result without such a lon" and tedious prolo"ue2

Apart from the +uestion whether Man is really so "lorious as the theolo"ians of

evolution say he is, there is the further difficulty that life on this planet is almost

certainly temporary. 'he earth will "row cold, or the atmosphere will "radually flyoff, or there will be an insufficiency of water, or, as (ir Hames Heans "enially

prophesies, the sun will burst and all the planets will be turned into "as. $hich of

those will happen first, no one knows! but in any case the human race will ultimately

die out. 0f course, such an event is of little importance from the point of view of

orthodox theolo"y, since men are immortal, and will continue to exist in heaven and

hell when none are left on earth. But in that case why bother about terrestrial

developments2 'hose who lay stress on the "radual pro"ress from the primitive slime

to Man attach an importance to this mundane sphere which should make them shrink

from the conclusion that all life on earth is only a brief interlude between the nebula

and the eternal frost, or perhaps between one nebula and another. 'he importance of

Man, which is the one indispensable do"ma of the theolo"ians, receives no support

from a scientific view of the future of the solar system.

'here are many other sources of false belief besides self-importance. 0ne of these is

love of the marvelous. knew at one time a scientifically-minded con/uror, who used

to perform his tricks before a small audience, and then "et them, each separately, to

write down what they had seen happen. Almost always they wrote down somethin"

much more astonishin" than the reality, and usually somethin" which no con/uror

could have achieved! yet they all thou"ht they were reportin" truly what they had seen

with their own eyes. 'his sort of falsification is still more true of rumors. A tells B

that last ni"ht he saw Mr.-, the eminent prohibitionist, sli"htly the worse for li+uor! Btells C that A saw the "ood man reelin" drunk, C tells that he was picked up

unconscious in the ditch, tells E that he is well known to pass out every evenin".

#ere, it is true, another motive comes in, namely malice. $e like to think ill of our

nei"hbors, and are prepared to believe the worst on very little evidence. But even

where there is no such motive, what is marvelous is readily believed unless it "oes

a"ainst some stron" pre/udice. All history until the ei"hteenth century is full of

prodi"ies and wonders which modern historians i"nore, not because they are less well

attested than facts which the historians accept, but because modem taste amon" the

learned prefers what science re"ards as probable. (hakespeare relates how on the

ni"ht before Caesar was killed, A common slave-you know him well by si"ht- #eld

up his left hand, which did flame and bum ;ike twenty torches /oin%d! and yet hishand, ot sensible of fire, remain%d unscorch%d. Besides- have not since put up my


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sword- A"ainst the Capitol met a lion, $ho "lar%d upon me, and went surly by,

$ithout annoyin" me! and there were drawn Fpon a heap a hundred "hastly women,

'ransformed with their fear, who swore they saw Men all in fire walk up and down

the streets.

(hakespeare did not invent these marvels! he found them in reputable historians, who

are amon" those upon whom we depend for our knowled"e concernin" Hulius Caesar.

'his sort of thin" always used to happen at the death of a "reat man or the be"innin"

of an important war. Even so recently as 787D the 3an"els of Mons3 encoura"ed the

British troops. 'he evidence for such events is very seldom first-hand, and modern

historians refuse to accept it-except, of course, where the event is one that has

reli"ious importance.

Every powerful emotion has its own myth-makin" tendency. $hen the emotion is

peculiar to an individual, he is considered more or less mad if he "ives credence tosuch myths as he has invented. But when an emotion is collective, as in war, there is

no one to correct the myths that naturally arise. Conse+uently in all times of "reat

collective excitement unfounded rumors obtain wide credence. n (eptember, 787D,

almost everybody in En"land believed that 6ussian troops had passed throu"h

En"land on the way to the $estern 5ront. Everybody knew someone who had seen

them, thou"h no one had seen them himself.

'his myth-makin" faculty is often allied with cruelty. Ever since the middle a"es, the

Hews have been accused of practisin" ritual murder. 'here is not an iota of evidence

for this accusation, and no sane person who has examined it believes it. evertheless

it persists. have met white 6ussians who were convinced of its truth, and amon"

many a*is it is accepted without +uestion. (uch myths "ive an excuse for the

infliction of torture, and the unfounded belief in them is evidence of the unconscious

desire to find some victim to persecute.

'here was, until the end of the ei"hteenth century, a theory that insanity is due to

possession by devils. t was inferred that any pain suffered by the patient is also

suffered by the devils, so that the best cure is to make the patient suffer so much that

the devils will decide to abandon him. 'he insane, in accordance with this theory,

were sava"ely beaten. 'his treatment was tried on )in" :eor"e when he was mad,

but without success. t is a curious and painful fact that almost all the completelyfutile treatments that have been believed in durin" the lon" history of medical folly

have been such as caused acute sufferin" to the patient. $hen anaesthetics were

discovered, pious people considered them an attempt to evade the will of :od. t was

pointed out, however, that when :od extracted Adam%s rib #e put him into a deep

sleep. 'his proved that anaesthetics are all ri"ht for men! women, however, ou"ht to

suffer, because of the curse of Eve. n the $est votes for women proved this doctrine

mistaken, but in Hapan, to this day, women in childbirth are not allowed any

alleviation throu"h anaesthetics. As the Hapanese do not believe in:enesis, this piece

of sadism must have some other /ustification.

'he fallacies about 3race3 and 3blood,3 which have always been popular, and whichthe a*is have embodied in their official creed, have no ob/ective Hustification! they


18/30

are believed solely because they minister to self-esteem and to the impulse toward

cruelty. n one form or another, these beliefs are as old as civili*ation! their forms

chan"e, but their essence remains. #erodotus tells how Cyrus was brou"ht up by

peasants, in complete i"norance of his royal blood! at the a"e of twelve his kin"ly

bearin" toward other peasant boys revealed the truth. 'his is a variant of an old story

which is found in all ndo-European countries. Even +uite modem people say that3blood will tell.3 t is no use for scientific physiolo"ists to assure the world that there

is no difference between the blood of a e"ro and the blood of a white man. 'he

American 6ed Cross, in obedience to popular pre/udice, at first, when America

became involved in the present war, decreed that no e"ro blood should be used for

blood transfusion. As a result of an a"itation, it was conceded that e"ro blood mi"ht

be used, but only for e"ro patients. (imilarly, in :ermany, the Aryan soldier who

needs blood transfusion is carefully protected from the contamination of Hewish

blood.

n the matter of race, there are different beliefs in different societies. $here monarchy

is firmly established, kin"s are of a hi"her race than their sub/ects. Fntil very recently,it was universally believed that men are con"enitally more intelli"ent than women!

even so enli"htened a man as (pino*a decides a"ainst votes for women on this

"round. Amon" white men, it is held that white men are by nature superior to men of

other colors, and especially to black men! in Hapan, on the contrary, it is thou"ht that

yellow is the best color. n #aiti, when they make statues of Christ and (atan, they

make Christ black and (atan white. Aristotle and Plato considered :reeks so innately

superior to barbarians that slavery is /ustified so lon" as the master is :reek and the

slave barbarian. 'he a*is and the American le"islators who made the immi"ration

laws consider the ordics superior to (lavs or ;atins or any other white men. But the

a*is, under the stress of war, have been led to the conclusion that there are hardly

any true ordics outside :ermany! the orwe"ians, except


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:ermans, and people of Mediterranean race, taly the same with the addition of the

descendants of slaves imported by the 6omans. 'he En"lish are perhaps the most

mixed of all. 'here is no evidence that there is any advanta"e in belon"in" to a pure

race. 'he purest races now in existence are the Py"mies, the #ottentots, and the

Australian abori"ines! the 'asmanians, who were probably even purer, are extinct.

'hey were not the bearers of a brilliant culture. 'he ancient :reeks, on the other hand,emer"ed from an amal"amation of northern barbarians and an indi"enous population!

the Athenians and onians, who were the most civili*ed, were also the most mixed.

'he supposed merits of racial purity are, it would seem, wholly ima"inary.

(uperstitions about blood have many forms that have nothin" to do with race. 'he

ob/ection to homicide seems to have been, ori"inally, based on the ritual pollution

caused by the blood of the victim. :od said to Cain& 3'he voice of thy brother%s blood

crieth unto me from the "round.3 Accordin" to some anthropolo"ists, the mark of

Cain was a dis"uise to prevent Abel%s blood from findin" him! this appears also to be

the ori"inal reason for wearin" mournin". n many ancient communities no difference

was made between murder and accidental homicide! in either case e+ually ritualablution was necessary. 'he feelin" that blood defiles still lin"ers, for example in the

Churchin" of $omen and in taboos connected with menstruation. 'he idea that a

child is of his father%s 3blood3 has the same superstitious ori"in. (o far as actual blood

is concerned, the mother%s enters into the child, but not the father%s. f blood were as

important as is supposed, matriarchy would be the only proper way of tracin" descent.

n 6ussia, where, under the influence of )arl Marx, people since the revolution have

been classified by their economic ori"in, difficulties have arisen not unlike those of

:erman race theorists over the (candinavian ordies. 'here were two theories that

had to be reconciled& on the one hand, proletarians were "ood and other people were

bad! on the other hand, communists were "ood and other people were bad. 'he only

way of effectin" a reconciliation was to alter the meanin" of words. A 3proletarian3

came to mean a supporter of the "overnment! ;enin, thou"h born a Prince, was

reckoned a member of the proletariat. 0n the other hand, the word 3kulak,3 which was

supposed to mean a rich peasant, came to mean any peasant who opposed

collectivi*ation. 'his sort of absurdity always arises when one "roup of human bein"s

is supposed to be inherently better than another. n America, the hi"hest praise that

can be bestowed on an eminent colored man after he is safely dead is to say 3he was a

white man.3 A coura"eous woman is called 3masculine3& Macbeth, praisin" his wife%s

coura"e, says&

Brin" forth men children only, 5or thy undaunted mettle should compose othin"

but males.

All these ways of speakin" come of unwillin"ness to abandon foolish "enerali*ations.

n the economic sphere there are many widespread superstitions. $hy do people

value "old and precious stones2 ot simply because of their rarity& there are a number

of elements called 3rare earths3 which are much rarer than "old, but no one will "ive a

penny for them except a few men of science. 'here is a theory, for which there ismuch to be said, that "old and "ems were valued ori"inally on account of their


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supposed ma"ical properties. 'he mistakes of "overnments in modem times seem to

show that this belief still exists amon" the sort of men who are called 3practical.3 At

the end of the last war, it was a"reed that :ermany should pay vast sums to En"land

and 5rance, and they in turn should pay vast sums to the Fnited (tates. Every one

wanted to be paid in money rather than "oods! the 3practical3 men failed to notice that

there is not that amount of money in the world. 'hey also failed to notice that moneyis no use unless it is used to buy "oods. As they would not use it in this way, it did no

"ood to anyone. 'here was supposed to be some mystic virtue about "old that made it

worth while to di" it up in the 'ransvaal and put it under"round a"ain in bank vaults

in America. n the end, of course, the debtor countries had no more money, and, since

they were not allowed to pay in "oods, they went bankrupt. 'he :reat epression was

the direct result of the survivin" belief in the ma"ical properties of "old. t is to be

feared that some similar superstition will cause e+ually bad results after the end of the

present war.

Politics is lar"ely "overned by sententious platitudes which are devoid of truth.

0ne of the most widespread popular maxims is, 3human nature cannot be chan"ed.3

o one can say whether this is true or not without first definin" 3human nature.3 But

as used it is certainly false. $hen Mr. A utters the maxim, with an air of portentous

and conclusive wisdom, what he means is that all men everywhere will always

continue to behave as they do in his own home town. A little anthropolo"y will dispel

this belief. Amon" the 'ibetans, one wife has many husbands, because men are too

poor to support a whole wife! yet family life, accordin" to travellers, is no more

unhappy than elsewhere. 'he practice of lendin" one%s wife to a "uest is very common

amon" uncivili*ed tribes. 'he Australian abori"ines, at puberty, under"o a very

painful operation which, throu"hout the rest of their lives, "reatly diminishes sexual

potency. nfanticide, which mi"ht seem contrary to human nature, was almost

universal before the rise of Christianity, and is recommended by Plato to prevent

over-population. Private property is not reco"ni*ed amon" some sava"e tribes. Even

amon" hi"hly civili*ed people, economic considerations will override what is called

3human nature.3 n Moscow, where there is an acute housin" shorta"e, when an

unmarried woman is pre"nant, it often happens that a number of men contend for the

le"al ri"ht to be considered the father of the prospective child, because whoever is

/ud"ed to be the father ac+uires the ri"ht to share the woman%s room, and half a room

is better than no room.

n fact, adult 3human nature3 is extremely variable, accordin" to the circumstances ofeducation. 5ood and sex are very "eneral re+uirements, but the hermits of the 'hebaid

eschewed sex alto"ether and reduced food to the lowest point compatible with

survival. By diet and trainin", people can be made ferocious or meek, masterful or

slavish, as may suit the educator. 'here is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be

made the creed of the vast ma/ority by ade+uate "overnmental action. Plato intended

his 6epublic to be founded on a myth which he admitted to be absurd, but he was

ri"htly confident that the populace could be induced to believe it. #obbes, who

thou"ht it important that people should reverence the "overnment however unworthy

it mi"ht be, meets the ar"ument that it mi"ht be difficult to obtain "eneral assent to

anythin" so irrational by pointin" out that people have been brou"ht to believe in the

Christian reli"ion, and, in particular, in the do"ma of transubstantiation. f he had


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been alive now, he would have found ample confirmation in the devotion of :erman

youth to the a*is.

'he power of "overnments over men%s beliefs has been very "reat ever since the rise

of lar"e (tates. 'he "reat ma/ority of 6omans became Christian after the 6oman

emperors had been converted. n the parts of the 6oman Empire that were con+ueredby the Arabs, most people abandoned Christianity for slam. 'he division of $estern

Europe into Protestant and Catholic re"ions was determined by the attitude of

"overnments in the sixteenth century. But the power of "overnments over belief in the

present day is vastly "reater than at any earlier time. A belief, however untrue, is

important when it dominates the actions of lar"e masses of men. n this sense, the

beliefs inculcated by the Hapanese, 6ussian, and :erman "overnments are important.

(ince they are completely diver"ent, they cannot all be true, thou"h they may well all

be false. Fnfortunately they are such as to inspire men with an ardent desire to kill

one another, even to the point of almost completely inhibitin" the impulse of self-

preservation. o one can deny, in face of the evidence, that it is easy, "iven military

power, to produce a population of fanatical lunatics. t would be e+ually easy toproduce a population of sane and reasonable people, but many "overnments do not

wish to do so, since such people would fail to admire the politicians who are at the

head of these "overnments.

'here is one peculiarly pernicious application of the doctrine that human nature

cannot be chan"ed. 'his is the do"matic assertion that there will always be wars,

because we are so constituted that we feel a need of them. $hat is true is that a man

who has had the kind of diet and education that most men have will wish to fi"ht

when provoked. But he will not actually fi"ht unless he has a chance of victory. t is

very annoyin" to be stopped by a speed cop, but we do not fi"ht him because we

know that he has the overwhelmin" forces of the (tate at his back. People who have

no occasion for war do not make any impression of bein" psycholo"ically thwarted.

(weden has had no war since 7I7D, but the (wedes were, a few years a"o, one of the

happiest and most contented nations in the world. doubt whether they are so still, but

that is because, thou"h neutral, they are unable to escape many of the evils of war. f

political or"ani*ation were such as to make war obviously unprofitable, there is

nothin" in human nature that would compel its occurrence, or make avera"e people

unhappy because of its not occurrin". Exactly the same ar"uments that are now used

about the impossibility of preventin" war were formerly used in defense of duellin",

yet few of us feel thwarted because we are not allowed to fi"ht duels.

am persuaded that there is absolutely no limit to the absurdities that can, by

"overnment action, come to be "enerally believed. :ive me an ade+uate army, with

power to provide it with more pay and better food than falls to the lot of the avera"e

man, and will undertake, within thirty years, to make the ma/ority of the population

believe that two and two are three, that water free*es when it "ets hot and boils when

it "ets cold, or any other nonsense that mi"ht seem to serve the interest of the (tate.

0f course, even when these beliefs had been "enerated, people would not put the

kettle in the ice-box when they wanted it to boil. 'hat cold makes water boil would be

a (unday truth, sacred and mystical, to be professed in awed tones, but not to be acted

on in daily life. $hat would happen would be that any verbal denial of the mystic

doctrine would be made ille"al, and obstinate heretics would be 3fro*en3 at the stake.o person who did not enthusiastically accept the official doctrine would be allowed


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to teach or to have any position of power. 0nly the very hi"hest officials, in their

cups, would whisper to each other what rubbish it all is! then they would lau"h and

drink a"ain. 'his is hardly a caricature of what happens under some modern

"overnments.

'he discovery that man can be scientifically manipulated, and that "overnments canturn lar"e masses this way or that as they choose, is one of the causes of our

misfortunes. 'here is as much difference between a collection of mentally free

citi*ens and a community molded by modern methods of propa"anda as there is

between a heap of raw materials and a battleship. Education, which was at first made

universal in order that all mi"ht be able to read and write, has been found capable of

servin" +uite other purposes. By instillin" nonsense it unifies populations and

"enerates collective enthusiasm. f all "overnments tau"ht the same nonsense, the

harm would not be so "reat. Fnfortunately each has its own brand, and the diversity

serves to produce hostility between the devotees of different creeds. f there is ever to

be peace in the world, "overnments will have to a"ree either to inculcate no do"mas,

or all to inculcate the same. 'he former, fear, is a Ftopian ideal, but perhaps theycould a"ree to teach collectively that all public men, everywhere, are completely

virtuous and perfectly wise. Perhaps, when the war is over, the survivin" politicians

may find it prudent to combine on some such pro"ramme.

But if conformity has its dan"ers, so has nonconformity.

(ome 3advanced thinkers3 are of the opinion that any one who differs from the

conventional opinion must be in the ri"ht. 'his is a delusion! if it were not, truth

would be easier to come by than it is. 'here are infinite possibilities of error, and

more cranks take up unfashionable errors than unfashionable truths. met once an

electrical en"ineer whose first words to me were& 3#ow do you do2 'here are two

methods of faith-healin", the one practised by Christ and the one practised by most

Christian (cientists. practice the method practiced by Christ.3 (hortly afterwards, he

was sent to prison for makin" out fraudulent balance-sheets. 'he law does not look

kindly on the intrusion of faith into this re"ion. knew also an eminent lunacy doctor

who took to philosophy, and tau"ht a new lo"ic which, as he frankly confessed, he

had learnt from his lunatics. $hen he died he left a will foundin" a professorship for

the teachin" of his new scientific methods, but unfortunately he left no assets.

Arithmetic proved recalcitrant to lunatic lo"ic. 0n one occasion a man came to ask

me to recommend some of my books, as he was interested in philosophy. did so, but

he returned next day sayin" that he had been readin" one of them, and had found onlyone statement he could understand, and that one seemed to him false. asked him

what it was, and he said it was the statement that Hulius Caesar is dead. $hen asked

him why he did not a"ree, he drew himself up and said& 3Because am Hulius Caesar.3

'hese examples may suffice to show that you cannot make sure of bein" ri"ht by

bein" eccentric.

(cience, which has always had to fi"ht its way a"ainst popular beliefs, now has one of

its most difficult battles in the sphere of psycholo"y.

People who think they know all about human nature are always hopelessly at sea

when they have to do with any abnormality. (ome boys never learn to be what, inanimals, is called 3house trained.3 'he sort of person who won%t stand any nonsense


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deals with such cases by punishment! the boy is beaten, and when he repeats the

offense he is beaten worse. All medical men who have studied the matter know that

punishment only a""ravates the trouble. (ometimes the cause is physical, but usually

it is psycholo"ical, and only curable by removin" some deep-seated and probably

unconscious "rievance. But most people en/oy punishin" anyone who irritates them,

and so the medical view is re/ected as fancy nonsense. 'he same sort of thin" appliesto men who are exhibitionists! they are sent to prison over and over a"ain, but as soon

as they come out they repeat the offense. A medical man who speciali*ed in such

ailments assured me that the exhibitionist can be cured by the simple device of havin"

trousers that button up the back instead of the front. But this method is not tried

because it does not satisfy people%s vindictive impulses.

Broadly speakin", punishment is likely to prevent crimes that are sane in ori"in, but

not those that sprin" from some psycholo"ical abnormality. 'his is now partially

reco"ni*ed! we distin"uish between plain theft, which sprin"s from what may be

called rational self-interest, and kleptomania, which is a mark of somethin" +ueer.

And homicidal maniacs are not treated like ordinary murderers. But sexual aberrationsrouse so much dis"ust that it is still impossible to have them treated medically rather

than punitively. ndi"nation, thou"h on the whole a useful social force, becomes

harmful when it is directed a"ainst the victims of maladies that only medical skill can

cure.

'he same sort of thin" happens as re"ards whole nations. urin" the last war, very

naturally, people%s vindictive feelin"s were aroused a"ainst the :ermans, who were

severely punished after their defeat. ow many people are ar"uin" that the ersailles

'reaty was ridiculously mild, since it failed to teach a lesson! this time, we are told,

there must be real severity. 'o my mind, we shall be more likely to prevent a

repetition of :erman a""ression if we re"ard the rank and file of the a*is as we

re"ard lunatics than if we think of them as merely and simply criminals. ;unatics, of

course, have to be restrained! we do not allow them to carry firearms. (imilarly the

:erman nation will have to be disarmed. But lunatics are restrained from prudence,

not as a punishment, and so far as prudence permits we try to make them happy.

Everybody reco"ni*es that a homicidal maniac will only become more homicidal if he

is made miserable. n :ermany at the present day, there are, of course, many men

amon" the a*is who are plain criminals, but there must also be many who are more

or less mad. ;eavin" the leaders out of account do not ur"e leniency toward them,

the bulk of the :erman nation is much more likely to learn cooperation with the rest

of the world if it is sub/ected to a kind but firm curative treatment than if it is re"ardedas an outcast amon" the nations. 'hose who are bein" punished seldom learn to feel

kindly toward the men who punish them. And so lon" as the :ermans hate the rest of

mankind peace will be precarious.

$hen one reads of the beliefs of sava"es, or of the ancient Babylonians and

E"yptians, they seem surprisin" by their capricious absurdity. But beliefs that are /ust

as absurd are still entertained by the uneducated even in the most modem and

civili*ed societies. have been "ravely assured, in America, that people born in March

are unlucky and people born in May are peculiarly liable to corns. do not know the

history of these superstitions, but probably they are derived from Babylonian or

E"yptian priestly love. Beliefs be"in in the hi"her social strata, and then, like mud in ariver, sink "radually downward in the educational scale! they may take >, or D,


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years to sink all the way. 1ou may find your colored help makin" some remark that

comes strai"ht out of Plato-not the parts of Plato that scholars +uote, but the parts

where he utters obvious nonsense, such as that men who do not pursue wisdom in this

life will be born a"ain as women. Commentators on "reat philosophers always

politely i"nore their silly remarks.

Aristotle, in spite of his reputation, is full of absurdities. #e says that children should

be conceived in the $inter, when the wind is in the orth, and that if people marry

too youn" the children will be female. #e tells us that the blood of females is blacker

then that of males! that the pi" is the only animal liable to measles! that an elephant

sufferin" from insomnia should have its shoulders rubbed with salt, olive-oil, and

warm water! that women have fewer teeth than men, and so on. evertheless, he is

considered by the "reat ma/ority of philosophers a para"on of wisdom.

(uperstitions about lucky and unlucky days are almost universal. n ancient times they

"overned the actions of "enerals. Amon" ourselves the pre/udice a"ainst 5riday and

the number thirteen is very active! sailors do not like to sail on 5riday, and manyhotels have no thirteenth floor. 'he superstitions about 5riday and thirteen were once

believed by those reputed wise! now suchmen re"ard them as harmless follies. But

probably ?, years hence many beliefs of the wise of our day will have come to

seem e+ually foolish. Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something! in the

absence of "ood "rounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

Belief in 3nature3 and what is 3natural3 is a source of many errors. t used to be, and

to some extent still is, powerfully operative in medicine. 'he human body, left to

itself, has a certain power of curin" itself., small cuts usually heal, colds pass off, and

even serious diseases sometimes disappear without medical treatment. But aids to

nature are very desirable, even in these cases. Cuts may turn septic if not disinfected,

colds may turn to pneumonia, and serious diseases are only left without treatment by

explorers and travellers in remote re"ions, who have no option. Many practices which

have come to seem 3natural3 were ori"inally 3unnatural,3 for instance clothin" and

washin". Before men adopted clothin" they must have found it impossible to live in

cold climates. $here there is not a modicum of cleanliness, populations suffer from

various diseases, such as typhus, from which $estern nations have become exempt.

accination was and by some still is ob/ected to as 3unnatural.3 But there is no

consistency in such ob/ections, for no one supposes that a broken bone can be mended

by 3natural3 behavior. Eatin" cooked food is 3unnatural3! so is heatin" our houses.

'he Chinese philosopher ;ao-tse, whose traditional date is about 9 B.C., ob/ectedto roads and brid"es and boats as 3unnatural,3 and in his dis"ust at such mechanistic

devices left China and went to live amon" the $estern barbarians. Every advance in

civili*ation has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent.

'he commonest ob/ection to birth control is that it is a"ainst 3nature.3 5or some

reason we are not allowed to say that celibacy is a"ainst nature! the only reason can

think of is that it is not new. Malthus saw only three ways of keepin" down the

population! moral restraint, vice, and misery. Moral restraint, he admitted, was not

likely to be practised on a lar"e scale. 3ice,3 i.e., birth control, he, as a cler"yman,

viewed with abhorrence. 'here remained misery. n his comfortable parsona"e, he

contemplated the misery of the "reat ma/ority of mankind with e+uanimity, andpointed out the fallacies of reformers who hoped to alleviate it. Modern theolo"ical


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opponents of birth control are less honest. 'hey pretend to think that :od will

provide, however many mouths there may be to feed. 'hey i"nore the fact that #e has

never done so hitherto, but has left mankind exposed to periodical famines in which

millions died of hun"er. 'hey must be deemed to hold-if they are sayin" what they

believe-that from this moment onward :od will work a continual miracle of loaves

and fishes which #e has hitherto thou"ht unnecessary. 0r perhaps they will say thatsufferin" here below is of no importance! what matters is the hereafter. By their own

theolo"y, most of the children whom their opposition to birth control will cause to

exist will "o to hell. $e must suppose, therefore, that they oppose the amelioration of

life on earth because they think it a "ood thin" that many millions should suffer

eternal torment. By comparison with them, Malthus appears merciful.

$omen, as the ob/ect of our stron"est love and aversion, rouse complex emotions

which are embodied in proverbial 3wisdom.3

Almost everybody allows himself or herself some entirely un/ustifiable "enerali*ation

on the sub/ect of woman. Married men, when they "enerali*e on that sub/ect, /ud"e bytheir wives! women /ud"e by themselves. t would be amusin" to write a history of

men%s views on women. n anti+uity, when male supremacy was un+uestioned and

Christian ethics were still unknown, women were harmless but rather silly, and a man

who took them seriously was somewhat despised. Plato thinks it a "rave ob/ection to

the drama that the playwri"ht has to imitate women in creatin" his female roles. $ith

the comin" of Christianity woman took on a new part, that of the temptress! but at the

same time she was also found capable of bein" a saint. n ictorian days the saint was

much more emphasi*ed than the temptress! ictorian men could not admit themselves

susceptible to temptation. 'he superior virtue of women was made a reason for

keepin" them out of politics, where, it was held, a lofty virtue is impossible. But the

early feminists turned the ar"ument round, and contended that the participation of

women would ennoble politics. (ince this has turned out to be an illusion, there has

been less talk of women%s superior virtue, but there are still a number of men who

adhere t

the metaphysician's nightmare russell.doc

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