Bertrand Russell: In Praise of Idleness: Philosophy Forums

Bertrand Russell: In Praise of Idleness

bum
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Posted 08/07/08 - 11:53 AM: Subject: Bertrand Russell: In Praise of Idleness	#1
Just wanted to recommend this lil essay by Russell. (Does harmonize well with (the reading of) the Nicomachean Ethic by Aristotle). Check it out, y'all! mofos yoo-- [sorry Im just fuckin with the site a bit since it suggested to me after entering my last post to "write in proper English". lol. LOL!!!] Here is [not to forget the copula!] a good quote from afore-mentioned essay: In the past, there was a small leisure class and a larger working class. The leisure class enjoyed advantages for which there was no basis in social justice; this necessarily made it oppressive, limited its sympathies, and caused it to invent theories by which to justify its privileges. These facts greatly diminished its excellence, but in spite of this drawback it contributed nearly the whole of what we call civilization. It cultivated the arts and discovered the sciences; it wrote the books, invented the philosophies, and refined social relations. Even the liberation of the oppressed has usually been inaugurated from above. Without the leisure class, mankind would never have emerged from barbarism. http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html
Where there was nothing, nothing shall be again.

at
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Posted 08/07/08 - 03:35 PM:	#2
Subject line should read In Praise of Bourgeoisie!!

Caldwell
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Posted 08/08/08 - 12:17 AM:	#3
Bourgeoisie?? Not too fast. In praise of the elite class.

unenlightened
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Posted 08/08/08 - 01:21 AM:	#4
Intelligentsia, I'd say. I always reckoned the wheel was invented by someone who was too lazy to carry stuff, and fire by someone who was too lazy to chew. Algebra, by someone who couldn't be bothered to actually do the sums - etc. And finally we get to computers - too lazy to think!
The observer is the observed. J Krishnamurti "Philosophy, to the Philistine, is an evolutionary process, watched over by some sort of brisk dynamic Providence, and culminating in the supreme insight of modern thought." John Cowper Powys

ManiacJack
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Posted 08/09/08 - 09:11 AM:	#5
unenlightened wrote: Intelligentsia, I'd say. I always reckoned the wheel was invented by someone who was too lazy to carry stuff, and fire by someone who was too lazy to chew. Algebra, by someone who couldn't be bothered to actually do the sums - etc. And finally we get to computers - too lazy to think! And I figured the wheel was made by someone who just got way too sick of hauling heavy crap, quit their job, and withdrew from the community until he/she found something that worked. Then someone wrote a book on the guy and said he didn't work when he built the wheel- implying the man was unexperienced in the art when in fact it was more like the culmination of his life. It seems that during times of great strife are the times of vast improvement. Strife and Idleness are about as similar as Pie and Steak. I wouldn't promote strife, but suggest we all not seek idleness.
Future Tense Passed Relief the Escapist wrote: Bullshit, self-deception, self-aggrandizement. Explains everything, really...

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