Why Men Fight

De: Bertrand Russell

Narrado por: Denis Daly

Why Men Fight

By Bertrand Russell

Narrated by Denis Daly

This pacifist manifesto was published in 1917, as the First World War was dragging to a close. The resolution of this catastrophic conflict resulted in a reconstruction of Europe, the fallout from which led to an even more cataclysmic war. Russell delineates the problem as being due to the institutionalizing of national hostilities and the consequent apportioning of blame among the warring parties.

At the opening of the work, he says: "It is impossible to prevent others from feeling hostile, but it is possible to avoid any reciprocal hostility on one's own part, by imaginative understanding and the sympathy which grows out of it. And without understanding and sympathy, it is impossible to find a cure for the evil from which the world is suffering."

In his exposition Russell considers the roles played by a number of institutions, social and political, reserving some his sharpest criticism for organized religion.

Public Domain (P)2022 Voices of Today

Should’ve read this years ago

Remarkable. Absolute joy to read and consider, even if at times it is oppositional to my personal beliefs.

A Very Big Overview

This was the first Bertrand Russell book I’ve read. The fist chapter covers what I thought the book would be about. Why does “a” man fight. After that he talks about why counties fight. Why does war exist. Why does any one do this at all. I think the reasons he starts going into more grand and distantly related subjects like education and women’s liberation is to try to find a solution to preventing or ending wars. There seem to be different solutions at the level of the individual, nation, and globe.

This book was released right after the first world war and it shows. This book also seems to have been written with a British audience in mind. However it surprised me how current the ideas were. This book has not aged passed the time it was intended for.