Russell's Crusade Against Dogmatism

Q.        Russell was opposed to all obscurantism, mysticism and dogmatism. How far has he incorporated this approach is his ‘Unpopular Essays’. (2011)

Ans:    Russell was a determined foe of dogmatism and a great champion of liberalism. He was a relentless critic of all kinds of dogmatic beliefs and an ardent torch-bearer of liberal attitude in all the fields of human life. He started the crusade against the dogmatic beliefs and proved himself to be a very powerful gigantic Knight in his unending war against dogmas and struggle for the independence of free and liberal human thought.

A dogma is a stubborn belief, an irrational doctrine or a rigid principal and dogmatism mean a stubborn holding of beliefs and doctrines with a sheer refusal to the rational scrutiny, or the verification of the beliefs by evidence and reason. On the contrary, liberalism, means keeping an open and receptive mind to the fresh and empirically verified beliefs. It also means to be ready to modify, alter or discard the fossil views. Russell writes in the preface to his book, “Unpopular essays”.

“Most of the following essays are concerned to compact in one way or another, the growth of dogmatism whether of the right or of the left, which has either to characterized our tragic century.

In order to combat with dogmatism, Russell adopts the position of rational scepticism, empiricism and liberalism. And his position of a sceptic is not merely for the sake of scepticism but for the sake of clarity and certainty in human thought and action. According to I.F. Stone, Russell teaches scepticism only in order to be eternally humane. He thinks that Russell’s scepticism is only for a deeper faith. Eric From thinks that Russell was a man of faith, faith not in theological sense, but the faith in the power of reason, faith in man’s capacity to create his own paradise through his own efforts. By observing massacre of man by man, he became an ardent pacifist. Will Durant writes in his book, “The Story of Philosophy”;

“When Cambridge dismissed him for his pacifism, he made the world his University and became a travelling sophist.” Being the sophist of 20^th century, he apostled the manifesto of humanism. Before world war-I Russell was engrossed in pure philosophy but the irrationality and animosity of man against man in the war turned Russell as a social philosopher, Will Durant says:

“There have been two Russells, one who died during the war; and another who rose out of that shroud, an almost mystic communist born out of the ashes of a mathematical logician”.

Russell’s stand point is made clear in his essay, “Philosophy & Politics”, in which he denounces the dogmatism of the idealistic approach which made the path straight for Nazism and Communism. Russell criticises the philosophy of both Hegel and Plato and accused them of being dogmatic and their policies proved to be disastrous. Hegel’s philosophy was that true liberty consists of obedience to arbitrary authority, that free speech is an evil, that absolute monarchy is good, that war is desirable. Hegel’s philosophy also had a great influence on Karl Marx. Thus both Hegel and Marx justify autocracy or despotism or tyranny because of their dogmatic beliefs. On the contrary, Russell himself supports to empirical liberalism and democratic values. Russell acknowledges John Lock’s philosophy of tolerance and liberalism. Lock preached religious tolerance, representative public institutions, and the limitation of the power of the government by check and balance. Lock further described that dogmatism leads to censorship, concealment, intolerance, intellectual dishonesty and mental slavery. He says:

“The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what opinions one held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment.”

Russell quotes a number of examples of dogmatism in the same essay, e.g. Protogoras, an ancient Greek philosopher said that, “he did not know whether the gods exist but he held that in any case they ought to be worshiped”. In the same way, there is a dogmatic creed by a modern man: David Hume, a British philosopher believes that, “carelessness and inattention alone can afford us any remedy”.

In the essay, “An Intellectual Rubbish”, Russell condemns the dogmatism of priests. He refers to the age of faith when the priests taught that the human beings were punished by famine, pestilence, earthquakes and by floods because of their sins and thousands of witches were burnt at the stake. However, Russell questions the whole conception of sin and the belief of rising from the grave. On another occasion, he laughs at the belief of a Catholic theologians view that ‘a priest may fondle a nun’s breasts if he does so without any evil intention’. Another dogmatic belief on the part of theologians is the opposition to birth control.

In another essay, ‘The Functions of a Teacher’, Russell appears to be a champion of liberalism and an adverse foe of dogmatism. He deplores that the educational institutions such as universities largely remained in the grip of dogmatists for centuries. He also denounces the dangers of state education which seeks to control the minds of people by inculcating certain dogmatic beliefs among them, state education produces fanatical bigots, ignorance of the outside world and unaccustomed to free discussion, it also leads to Nazi in Germany and Marxism in Russia. Russell pleads for complete freedom to the teacher who should inculcate the habit of free inquiry in the students.

The narrow-minded dogmatists rejected every old or new scientific discovery which was repugnant to their dogmatic believes. When Benjamin Franklin invented the lighting rod, the clergy both in England and America condemned it as an impious attempt to defeat the Will of God. According to the clergy, lightning is sent by God to punish those who commit sin; the virtuous is never struck by lightning. Therefore, Benjamin Franklin was not justified to defeat the Will of God. There was a dogmatic notion among the maiden that Divine is observing them, Russell says:

“They (nuns) conceive the divinity as a peeping tom, whose omnipotence can enable him to peep through the bath room’s wall but can be failed with bathrobes.”

It was universally believed that men are congenitally more intelligent than women; even so enlightened a man as Spinoza decides against votes for women on this ground that men are superior to women. Even Aristotle says that women have fewer teeth than men. Russell in his essay “Ideas that have harmed mankind” quotes a beautiful couplet

“A dog, a wife and a walnut tree the more you beat them the better they be.”

Aristotle and Plato considered Greeks are superior to barbarians and the slavery is justified so long as the master is Greek and the slave a barbarian.

Infanticide, which might seem contrary to human nature was almost universal before the rise of Christianity, and is recommended by Plato to prevent over-population. For a long time people used to sacrifice their children to Maloch, the god of sacrifice.

Among us the prejudice against “Friday” and number “13” is very active, sailors do not like to sail on Friday and many hotels have no 13^th floor.

Russell mocks at the dogmatism of the Christian saints who abstain themselves from the pleasures of sensor, yet they enjoy to think that pagans and heretics would suffer eternal tortures in hell. Another dogma in Modern times in the philosophy of economic nationalism which is based on the false belief that the economic interest of one nation is necessarily opposed to that of another. All these kinds of dogmas lead only to conflicts and persecution.

In the end we can conclude that Bertrand Russell emerged as a Socrates of the twentieth century who fought a crusade against dogmatism and he shattered most of the established dogmas, fanatical beliefs, superstitions and irrationalism.

Point to Remember”

1.         What is a dogma?

2.         Dogmatism of Nazism and Communism

3.         Dogmatism of priests

4.         Functions of a teacher

5.         Rejection of discoveries

6.         Infanticides

7.         Conclusion

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