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Title: The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Arthur Russell ISBN: 0-87140-162-2 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: February, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Intelligent and eye-opening
Comment: I must admit I'm a fan of Russell, so I tend to be a bit biased. But I also think that Russell really has, as one person put it, "hit the nail on the head" with this book on happiness.
Russell divides the book into two parts (essentially). One is devoted to the causes of unhappiness, with chapters on persecution mania, fear, envy, boredom and excitement, fatigue, the sense of sin, and fear of public opinion, among others. I found the chapter on fear to be the most interesting, although they all were fascinating. In chapter 9, Fear of Public Opinion, Russell alleges that many people drive themselves to unhappiness by trying to conform to others and/or being afraid of opprobrium from friends, family, or co-workers. Of course, the chapter itself is much better than my terse summary.
The next part of the book is devoted to the causes of happiness, with chpaters on: zest, affection, family, work, hobbies, and effort. I found this part to be of lower quality than the first. If one works backward from Russell's causes of unhappiness, than one would come across interesting ways of finding happiness. In others words, if you discovered that you were submerged in unbearable (perhaps religious) guilt all the time, than perhaps some rationalization would help. For example, let's say you're a woman, you've been raped, and you have an abortion. You are under a tremendous amount of guilt because you happen to be a conservative (theologically) Baptist. What do you do about your religious guilt, which is ruining your life?
I think Russell should've devoted a section to his causes of happiness part of the book to getting out of the causes of unhappiness. Not that he doesn't make a half-attempt to do this, but I really would've liked to see whole chapters devoted to the subject, not whole paragrahps or pages.
All in all, this book, taken with all of Russell's work on social problems, is (as "Time" magazine says) a modern substitute for the Bible. Russell really does see the problems of modern society, and his solutions are still relevant after more than 70 years.
Rating: 5
Summary: The joy of reading the obvious
Comment: The monograph, written by Russell at the age of 58 (he lived to 98), is first and foremost a self-help book. As Russell clearly states in the preface, the book contains "no profound philosophy or deep erudition," and was "aimed only at putting together some remarks which are inspired by what I [Russell] hope is common sense." And how wonderful those remarks were.
As with any self-help book, there aren't that many _new_ facts to learn within. Rather there is a certain view of the world the authors offer, and it is their congeniality and their own conviction in their view that provide readers with consolation, and motivation to try out such view. Russell's view is that the world is abundant with joy to be explored and discovered. The programs he suggests for conquering happiness, most notably, were 1) to face whatever fear you behold with sincerity and conviction that they are possible to overcome (Russell regards even one's unconscious changeable with sufficient vigor and intensity), 2) enjoy to its fullest extent what life has to offer no matter how trivial the source of enjoyment are perceived by others insofar as the act of pursuing enjoyment do not harm others (example: Russell's Gardner was fascinated in hunting rabbits!), and 3) to realize that whatever happens to oneself is not all that important after all (Russell's such laissez faire-ish view is exemplified by his words: "in the broad stream of history nothing is of paramount importance..."). With a mathematician's rigor Russell in each chapter scoped out what the problem he wished to take on, and laid out his solutions, logically deduced from common sense. I was convinced.
However it was not so much the solutions Russell provided that made me enjoy this book. What I enjoyed most was the chance to peek into a mind that appeared to me to be naive and held no pretense: "I shall therefore assume that the reader would rather be happy than unhappy. Whether I can help him to realize this wish, I do not know; but at any rate the attempt can do no harm." To see people attempting to overcome difficulties in their utmost sincerity, in my view, provides one with the ultimate consolation.
Rating: 4
Summary: 75 Years Old and Still Poignant Today
Comment: A nice combination of philosophy and self-help guides the reader through what makes a person feel the way they do and how to change it. It is divided well: because first you'll want to know what's wrong, then things that make it better, then the total person to walk away as. Many of his examples of what makes us unhappy are definitely around today, retaining much of what made the book poignant.
Surely, it is dated. Russell explains to the reader how much of a stress it must be to see planes in the air. Stuff like this does not change the flow of the book to a modern reader though. My mind replaced Russell's old examples with new ones. His general arguments still apply.
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Title: Why I Am Not a Christian : And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell ISBN: 0671203231 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 30 October, 1967 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Marriage and Morals by Bertrand Russell Russell, Bertrand Arthur Russell ISBN: 0871402114 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: March, 1970 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays by Bertrand Arthur Russell ISBN: 0415109248 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Religion and Science by Bertrand Arthur Russell, Michael Ruse ISBN: 0195115511 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: March, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Arthur Russell, John Perry ISBN: 019511552X Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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