What I Believe

A remarkable work, What I Believe remains the best concise introduction to Russell's thought.Nothing is sacred. Sex, morality, politics, society - all are fair game for Bertrand Russell's acerbic wit and keen eye. With What I Believe first published in 1925, Russell took on organized religion. Along with Why I Am Not a Christian, this essay must rank as the most articulate example of Russell's famed atheism. It is also one of the most notorious. Used as evidence in a 1940 court case in which Russell was declared unfit to teach college-level philosophy, What I Believe was to become one of his most defining works. The ideas contained within were and are controversial, contentious and - to the religious - downright blasphemous. More than three-quarters of a century after it was written, the arguments within this essay continue to challenge one's faith and assumptions. A remarkable work, it remains the best concise introduction to Russell's thought.