Bertrand Russell
Philosopher, logician and peace campaigner · 1872–1970
Russell was a British philosopher and logician who co-wrote Principia Mathematica and won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was imprisoned for opposing the First World War and later led campaigns against nuclear weapons.
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Estimated from their documented words and actions. A simplification, not a verdict.
He supported decentralised guild socialism early on but later called for world government.
He was a liberal democrat who criticised Bolshevik dictatorship after visiting Soviet Russia in 1920.
He was jailed twice for protest and defended free speech and civil liberties throughout his life.
He argued for a world government to prevent nuclear war.
He opposed the First World War and later led CND, though he briefly urged pressure on the USSR in the late 1940s.
No strong recorded view on immigration.
He described himself as a socialist and favoured guild socialism.
He supported public ownership and regulation of major industries.
No strong recorded view on trade.
In Why I Am Not a Christian he rejected religion and argued against its moral authority.
Marriage and Morals advocated sexual freedom and liberal reform of social customs.
He championed science while warning that technology without wisdom could destroy humanity.