Unpopular Essays
by Bertrand Russell · first published 1901
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Lively, opinionated essays that make philosophy and social questions fun to read; often suggested as an easy, enjoyable entry point into philosophy for general readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A classic collection of Bertrand Russell's more controversial works, reaffirming his staunch liberal values, Unpopular Essays is one of Russell's most characteristic and self-revealing books. Written to "combat... the growth in Dogmatism", on first publication in 1950 it met with critical acclaim and a wide readership and has since become one of his most accessible and popular books.
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…Hazlitt - The Plain Speaker, Table-Talk Emerson - Essays: First and Second Series Stevenson - Virginibus Puerisque, Across the Plains Santayana - Little Essays ed. Logan Pearsall Smith Russell - Unpopular Essays, Sceptical Essays Mencken - Selected Prejudices Wilde - Intentions James - Talks to Students, Memories and Studies
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite Essays/Longform blogposts” ↗I don't think it's the best place to get started. I've read it cover to cover and it's great background for further reading in philosophy, but it's a dry start. Russell's Unpopular Essays is a good deal more fun to read. Other things I'd recommend for wading into the waters of philosophy would be Utopia by Sir Thomas More, or Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes.
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗"Arguably Essays" by Christopher Hitchens "Letters to a Young Contrarian" by the same. and "Unpopular Essays" by Bertrand Russell.
on “Ask HN: What literature do you read?” ↗…of books I've read more times than any others - many times each: SARK's first 4-5 books, Robert Fulghum's books, Emerson's essays, Hazlitt's essays, Bertrand Russell's essays (e.g. Sceptical Essays, Unpopular Essays), GK Chesterton's essays and his book Heretics, Nietzsche's books, William James' essays, RL Stevenson's essays, La Rochefoucauld's Maxims, La Bruyere's Characters, Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan,…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books?” ↗…Self in Everyday Life, Chomsky's political works, GK Chesterton (e.g. Heretics), Freakonomics, Cialdini's Influence, JR Saul (e.g. Voltaire's Bastards, The Doubter's Companion), Bertrand Russell (e.g. Unpopular Essays, Sceptical Essays, Freedom and Organization 1814-1914), Santayana (e.g. Egotism in German Philosophy), Scott Noble[0] and Adam Curtis' documentaries. The Devil's Dictionary, Metaphors We Live By, The…
on “Ask HN: Favorite “Adam Ruins Everything”-esque media? (blogs, podcasts, etc)” ↗Or Unpopular Essays by Bertrand Russell. Or almost anything by Orwell; his crankiness knows no limits.
on “The Most Intolerant Wins: The Dictatorship of the Small Minority (2015)” ↗…I am the working poor. I'm pleased to see these recommendations -- insofar as they are "selected" works -- showing a practical concern for the good of modern society. I'll recommend Sceptical Essays, Unpopular Essays, and The Conquest of Happiness (all by Bertrand Russell).
on “The Only Four Books Bill Gates Has Rated Five Stars” ↗I like what Bertrand Russell had to say to that very question, in one of Unpopular essays (quoting approximately from memory): Philosophy is science in the circumstances of insufficient knowledge. That is, given insufficient data it may still be beneficial to ponder possible future directions…
on “Gilles Deleuze – What is Philosophy? [audio]” ↗