A guide for life or learning
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher of the early to mid 20th century. His work was mainly in logic, mathematics and social politics. Although influential for much of the 20th century, his work has been largely overlooked during this century. I was surprised, therefore, to come across an online article listing his ’10 commandments’.
Russell was also a prolific writer and produced many books in his lifetime. These commandments can be found in volume three, no less, of his autobiography.
I cannot claim to be an expert on Russell, his work or his views. However, I read these commandments and found them interesting. I thought I’d share them and say what I feel each one means.
Please highlight, comment, and let me know if you disagree with my interpretations or if the commandments spark different thoughts for you.
Here are Russell’s ’10 Commandments’,
- Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
- Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
- Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.
- When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
- Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
- Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do, the opinions will suppress you.
- Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
- Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
- Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
- Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
What follows below, are my interpretation of each of these Ten Commandments.
- Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. Of all these commandments, this one resonates most to me. It suggests that you should keep an open mind and always be prepared to change your view.
- Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light. This one must be aimed at politicians everywhere! It is possibly better to admit to something such as an error of judgment, a crime, or a past event, than to try to hide it. It may also suggest that the more effort you make in hiding something, the more attention you draw to it. This is most important if the existence of the event, or the effect of it, has a direct influence upon your current or intended actions.
- Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed. It takes a bit of thinking here to realise what Russell may be saying in this commandment. It appears to me that he is saying do not try to stop yourself, or anyone else, from thinking about something. If you do, then you are sure to be successful in stopping that thinking. This is especially foolish if thought is necessary before action or decision-making.
- When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavour to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory. In this commandment, I feel Russell is saying that you should always try to win people around by argument or debate. Don’t simply say ’I am the boss; therefore we shall do as I say.’ because you may not be the boss in reality, even if you have a superior position. Using your position, rather than favourable arguments, breeds resentment and distrust among your opponents. Being prepared to debate and listen to their arguments, shows respect for your opponents.
- Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found. What I take this to mean is that it is not the position or the ‘authority’ of a person that makes their argument or beliefs important. Rather, it is the arguments themselves which you should judge. Therefore, you should not follow a person because they are in authority but because you agree with their case. Always keep in mind that there will be other, equally or more powerful authorities, who may have different arguments or beliefs.
- Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you. Opinions, which you feel are wrong, should be countered by reasoning rather than by merely attempting to suppress them. Suppressing pernicious opinions does not get rid of them or promote correct opinions, they still survive and are likely to rise again against you. So use your reasoning to counter opposite opinions.
- Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. I take this to mean that you should not be worried about standing out from the crowd simply because of your opinions or beliefs. Don’t feel that you are wrong simply because everyone else believes something else. After all, almost every opinion which we now accept, was at first considered unusual or eccentric. It also seems to suggest that you should ‘be true to yourself’, that is, don’t accept what others believe simply because they believe it and they are the majority.
- Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter. If someone else disagrees with your position and argues their case intelligently, you should welcome this. Intelligent dissent demonstrates respect for your argument and, in order to argue against you, your opponent has had to consider carefully your points. Such a person and their argument are of more value to you than someone who simply agrees with you without saying why or how much they agree.
- Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it. At first, this seems to have links to commandment 2 about concealing evidence, but rather than just addressing falsehood or contrary evidence, this commandment is about being open and honest up front. Telling the truth from the beginning, no matter how awkward it may be, will show you as being open and honest. If you try to conceal the truth, then you will give the appearance of dishonesty, even to those who may not know or see the truth. The more inconvenient a truth may be, the better it is to be open about it from the outset because it can be more damaging if revealed later on.
- Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness. We each have our own notion of success and of happiness, as such we should not envy the happiness that others see for themselves. Other people’s happiness could be based upon misconceptions, that may ultimately be their undoing. If we envy such happiness and seek it for ourselves, then we too become victim of those misconceptions.
In conclusion, there appears to be a lot of sense in these commandments, though I am hesitant to call them such. Rather than ‘commandments’, I see them more as pieces of advice. Although they seem to be valuable and worthwhile pieces of advice, they do not seem to address the whole issue of life and living. They seem to address only a narrow aspect of one’s life or work, namely how you conduct your thoughts and your intellectual interactions with others. There is very little in these commandments about relationships, sexuality, or the meaning of life. As such, I do not feel Bertrand Russell has given us a rubric for living a successful or happy life. What he has done is given us a set of guidelines for conducting a successful debate or a means of thoughtful learning.
If you’d like to read the ten commandments for yourself, then here is the online article which prompted me to write this.
https://fs.blog/bertrand-russell-ten-commandments/
This article was also published on Medium
https://medium.com/@deerwood/the-ten-commandments-of-bertrand-russell-ec19444e179d
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