The Spinozistic Ethics of Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell’s professional philosophical reputation rests mainly on his mathematical logic and theory of knowledge. This study, first published in 1985, however, considers Russell’s writings on ethics and metaethics and uncovers the conceptual unity in Russell’s normative ethic. It traces that unity to the influence of Spinoza’s central ethical concept, the ‘intellectual love of God’, and then evaluates the ethic which is termed ‘impersonal self-enlargement’.

This book provides a positive re-evaluation of Russell’s status in the major philosophical field of ethics and is welcomed by students of moral philosophy as well as those interested in Bertrand Russell’s works.