Bertrand Russell Editorial Project

Dr. Louis Greenspan 
Professor Emeritus, 
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 

In this lecture, Dr. Greenspan, director of the Bertrand Russell Editorial Project at McMaster University from 1994 to 1997 and its managing editor from 1986 to 1994, discusses Russell’s writings on religion and chance. (“Chance” is the CSU, Chico Humanities Center theme for 2010-2011.) Russell’s papers are housed at McMaster. The lecture focuses on Russell’s “History of Philosophy.” Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century. Among other things, Russell transformed logic and placed it at the center of philosophic inquiry. As a social critic, political thinker, and humanist, Russell addressed major issues such as nationalism and imperialism, modern industrialism, Soviet Communism, and the nuclear peril. For information about the Bertrand Russell Research Centre at McMaster University, go to the Centre’s website. 

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Recorded: February 28, 2011