english biography and its development in literature

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Eminent Victoriansby Lytton Strachey.

Introduction

In Eminent Victorians(1918), Lytton Strachey examined the lives of four famous English

individuals from the Victorian Era and found that they were not quite what previousbiographies and popular legend had made them out to be. The four in question wereCardinal Manning, the leader of England's Roman Catholic community; Florence Nightingale,

the nurse; Thomas Arnold, the educational reformer; and General Charles George Gordon, asoldier and adventurer.

Strachey sought a new approach to biography. The typical, sprawling two-volume Victorian

biography presented its subject in the best possible light, ignoring any aspects of the lifethat might tarnish the person's achievements. Strachey determined that these large and

tedious volumes, full of what he called "ill-digested masses of material," did a disservice to

the art of biography. In contrast, he wrote short, pithy, artful biographies that told the truthabout the subjects as Strachey understood it. The result, in Eminent Victorians, is a series

of radical reinterpretations. Cardinal Manning is presented as a scheming, ambitious manrather than a pious representative of God. Florence Nightingale, although Strachey does not

devalue her astonishing achievements, is presented as a woman maniacally obsessed withwork, whose personality was acerbic rather than saintly. Strachey's Arnold, the headmaster

of Rugby School, is little more than a pompous, pedantic fool. The portrait of Gordon is the

most complex of the four, showing a man who was driven to his demise by thecontradictions in his own personality and the vacillation of the British government.

Eminent Victoriansis a landmark book not only because it punctured many of thepretensions and conceit of the Victorian Era, but because it signaled a new trend in thewriting of biography, the influence of which is still discernible today.

Eminent VictoriansEminent Victor iansis a book byLytton Strachey(one of the older members of theBloomsbury Group), first

published in 1918 and consisting ofbiographiesof four leading figures from theVictorian era.Its fame rests on

the irreverence and wit Strachey brought to bear on three men and a woman who had till then been regarded

as heroes and heroine. They were:

Cardinal Manning

Florence Nightingale (Highlighted are in our syllabus)

Thomas Arnold

General Gordon

The book made Strachey's name and placed him firmly in the top rank ofbiographers,where he remains.

1 Background

2 Summary
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3 Critical reception

4 Significance

Background

Strachey developed the idea for Eminent Victoriansin 1912, when he was living on occasional journalism and

writing dilettante plays and verse for his Bloomsbury friends. He went to live in the country atEast Ilsleyand

started work on a book then called Victorian Silhouettescontaining miniature biographies of a dozen notable

Victorian personalities. In November 1912 he wrote toVirginia Woolfthat their Victorian predecessors "seem to

me a set of mouth bungled hypocrites". After his research into the life ofCardinal Manning,he realised he

would have difficulty managing twelve lives. In the following year he moved to Wiltshire where he stayed until

1915, by which time he had completed half the book.[1]

By then it was wartime, and Strachey's anti-war and anti-conscription activities were taking up his time. He

changed his views and concluded that the Victorian worthies had not just been hypocrites, but that they hadbequeathed to his generation the "profoundly evil" system "by which it is sought to settle international disputes

by force".[1]

By 1917, the work was ready for publication and Strachey was put in touch with Geoffrey Whitworth at Chatto.

The criticFrank Swinnertonwas taken with the work and it was published on 9 May 1918 with almost uniformly

enthusiastic reviews.[1]

Summary

Each of the lives is very different from the others, although there are common threads - for example the

recurrent appearance ofWilliam Ewart GladstoneandArthur Hugh Clough.Each story is set against a specific

background.

In Cardinal Manning's story, the background is the creation of theOxford Movementand the defection of an

influential group ofChurch of Englandclergy to theCatholic Church.This aspect is covered in depth to explain

the movement and its main protagonists, particularly Manning's hostile relationship withJohn Henry Newman.

Strachey is critical of Manning's underhand manipulations in attempting to prevent Newman being made a

Cardinal.

The background features of Florence Nightingale's story are the machinations of theWar Office,and the

obtuseness of the military and politicians. Strachey depicts Florence Nightingale as an intense, driven woman

who is both personally intolerable and admirable in her achievements.[citation needed]

Dr Arnold is hailed as an exemplar who established thePublic Schoolsystem. Strachey describes this as an

education based on chapel and the classics, with a prefectorial system to maintain order. He points out that it

was not Arnold who was responsible for the obsession with sport, but does make it clear that Arnold was at
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fault in ignoring the sciences. Although Arnold was revered at the time, in retrospect Strachey sees his

approach as very damaging. Strachey also mocks Arnold's efforts at moral improvement of the general public,

for example his unsuccessful weekly newspaper.

Gordons is the story of a maverick soldier and adventurer, whoseoriginal military achievements in China

would have been forgotten. He was a mercenary who got into and out of conflicts on behalf of various dubious

governments, but much of his experience was in theSudan.The final disaster was when the Egyptian

occupation of Sudan was almost completely overthrown by fundamentalist rebels, and someone was needed to

retrieve the situation inKhartoum.The job fell to Gordon, whose instincts were to do anything but withdraw,

and he became embroiled in a siege. The British government was put in an almost impossible dilemma, and

when eventually they did send arelief expeditionit arrived just two days too late. Strachey based Gordons

story on his diaries and letters to give an account of a strong individual almost at odds with the world.[2]

Critical reception

Bertrand Russellwrote fromBrixton Prison(where he was imprisoned for pacifism) to Gladys Rinder on 21 May

1918.[3]

It is brilliant, delicious, exquisitely civilized. I enjoyed as much as any the Gordon, which alone was quite new to

me. I often laughed out loud in my cell while I was reading the book. The warder came to my cell to remind me

that prison was a place of punishment.

The American criticEdmund Wilsonwrote in the New Republic of 21 September, 1932, not long after

Strachey's death "Lytton Strachey's chief mission, of course, was to take down once and for all the pretensions

of the Victorian age to moral superiority... neither the Americans nor the English have ever, since Eminent

Victorians appeared, been able to feel quite the same about the legends that had dominated their pasts.

Something had been punctured for good."

Significance[edit]

With the publication of Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey set out to breathe life into theVictorian erafor

future generations to read. Up until this point, as Strachey remarked in the preface, Victorian biographies had

been "as familiar as the cortgeof the undertaker, and wear the same air of slow, funereal barbarism." Strachey

defied the tradition of "two fat volumes....of undigested masses of material" and took aim on the four iconified

figures.

British Labour politicianRoy Hattersleywrote "Lytton Strachey's elegant, energetic character assassinations

destroyed for ever the pretensions of the Victorian age to moral supremacy.
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English Biography and Its Development in Literature

Definition

The development of biography as an art form is a recent one. The credit for first using the

term biography goes to John Dryden who defined it as the history of particular mens

lives.The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, the history of the lives ofindividual men as a

branch of literature.Harold Nicolson simply echoes this definition when he says

that thebiography is a truthful record of an individual, presented as a work of art.

Distinguished from History

Biography should be distinguished from history with which it is sometimes confused.

History deals with the life on nations while biography deals with the life of an individual.

History studies the movements affecting a nation or an age, whereas biography studies thepersonality of a man. Biography seeks to isolate the individual from his age, and unfold the

charm of his distinctive personality. Biography is a study sharply defined by two definite

events, birth and death. It fills its canvas with one figure, and other characters, however

great in themselves, must always be subsidiary to the central hero (Edmund Gosse).

Again biography deals with a man both from within and without. It exhibits the external

life of the subject, gives a vivid picture of his character, and unfolds the growth of his mind.

A Very Difficult Art

The art of a biographer is a very difficult one. A.C. Benson in his admirable essay. The Art

of the Biographer has examined these difficulties in detail. According to the learned critic,The biographer writes in the hope, that the memory of some one fine and beautiful and

beloved should be so recorded, that it may stand as living witness to his life and beauty,

and his problem is how to do this, how to concentrate in a few pages of a printed book a

true and faithful impression of a person, exquisite and lovable, interesting salient and

striking. The question is, if it can be done fairly and sincerely at all, because it is not single

attractive aspect, but a presentment of the whole of a nature and character that is desired.

Then, too, we have to consider the enormous amount the material that has to be selected

from, in the case of a man, let us say, who has lived an active life, the affairs in which he

has been engaged, the interviews, the conversations, the personalities he has affected, or

been affected by, the letters he has received and written. The biographer has to give

an impression, of all this, if he can, and to preserve the real proportion, not merely to show

his hero in brilliant glimpses and in triumphant moments, but to show when he was introuble, in anger, in grief, in exhaustion. It cannot be done in any sort of completeness; it

must be a miracle of selection and balance. It is by far the greatest of all artistic problems.
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Sentimental Glorification of the Dead

The first and by far the greatest difficulty of the biographer lies in the way in which

humanity at present regards death. The sudden arrival of bodily death to an active and

vivid personality is so stunning and bewildering a thing to his immediate circle, that it

seems to change their whole view of the departed. The result too often is that the character

of the departed is instantly transformed and glorified. It seems irreverent to remember

anything absurd or amusing about him; his very gaiety and cheerfulness is as fuel to

sorrow. Then the biographer begins his work, and the moment that he writes freely and

naturally, touches upon faults or frailties or foibles, or above all, absurdities, there is a

chorus of disapproval. The piety of relatives, which is a real and true thing and must be

presented, fires up at the bare idea of the hero being represented in an unjust or perverse

or ridiculous light. Then, too, the light of romance begins to shed its glow over their

admiring memories. Further, the choice has to be made as to whether the thing is to be

done at once, while memories are fresh and interest vivid, or whether it is all to be

deferred to some future date, when the glowing picture has faded into something dim and

stately. It ends as a rule in the thing being done soon and then everything is smoothed out,

the salient features softened down, the contrast sacrificed, the proportion lost. This is thegreat, initial and supreme difficulty of the biography i.e. the fact that biographer is

confronted with passionate emotion and intense hero-worship. It is the old conflict

between realism and romance. Most human beings are deeply in love with romance, and

prefer a figure to be idealized; and until people learn that if a man is great enough to be

written about, he is also great enough to be described clearly, accurately, and with

relentless fidelity, biography must continue to be a tame, reticent, sentimental and

insincere art. Sentimental admirers do not desire either truth or proporation; they desire a

glowing and glorified figure moving on from strength to strength, when the interchange of

strength and weakness, of lofty beauty and childish pettiness, are often the chief interest of

a mans career (A.C. Benson).

Concentration on Noble Achievements

Again there is another great problem of biography with which hardly anyone has as yet

attempted to grapple. Biographies are, as a rule, confined to persons of notable

performance. But there are also a good many vivid and charming people, who have given

themselves freely in all directions, but have not displayed high technical accomplishment

in any field. Suchmen and women have inspired deep emotions, have loved intensely,

have cast a glow upon the lives of a large circle, have said delicate, sympathetic, perceptive

and suggestive things, have given meaning and joy to life, have radiated interest and

charm. But such as these are hardly ever written about, simply because the difficulties are

so great. Their talk with all its quick and inspiring effects has never been recorded, their

glances and gestures, so unforgettably beautiful, can hardly be rendered in words.


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Qualifications of a Biographer

The perfect biographer must see his subject vividly, audibly and tangibly; he must paint,

not what he thinks he sees, but what he actually does see. The biographer must have a

relentless and microscopic faculty of observation; he must have patience, energy and

research; he must have power of omission and selection; and lastly he must have an

extreme veraciousness, which does not pay any particular heed to decorum or sentiment

or romance. He need not violate privacy or sacredness, any more than a portrait painter

need insist on always painting from the nude; but he must have no deference for the kind

of hero-worship which requires that a man should be exhibited in flawless, stainless and

radiant perfection, while its sympathy and reverence will save him from mere caricature

and from undue emphasis on what was merely occasional, exaggerated or sensational.

Proportion is the true difficulty, how to balance what is lofty, noble and awe-inspiring with

what is minute, whimsical, humorous. The best biographer must know by a kind

of inspired tact what inessential; he must not love fondly but truly; and then if he works

both faithfully and skilfully, he may do what is perhaps the greatest service a man can do

for his fellows, and persuade them to believe in life and show them that life itself finely

lived, with all its shadows and features, is a more beautiful and engrossing thing than anyromantic or imaginative presentment of it.

Some Remarkable Biographies

Despite the innumerable difficulties which a biographer has to face, English language is

particularly rich in this field. Izzac WaltensEnglish Worthies contains the

admirable biography of John Donne, and this is a source book for all those who want to

make a first hand acquaintance with one of the greatest of poets in the English language.

Dr. JohnsonsLives of the Poets, though sometimes marred by the greatKhans literary,

political and personal prejudices, is remarkable for its combination of biography with

literary criticism. The learned Doctors sound commonsense and his inimitable style make

this collection of the lives of a number of great English writers, interesting and

illuminating reading. Another work standing in the first rank of English biography is

BoswellsLife of Johnson. The great literary dictator lives once again in the pages of this

very intimate and very minute account of his life. Indeed, the credit for creating Dr.

Johnson legend must go to Boswell. J.C. LokhartsLife of Scott, Thomas MoorsLife of

Byron, G.C. TravelyansLife of Macaulay, Mrs. GaskellsLife of Charlotte Bronte are a few

other remarkable biographies.


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Lytton Strachey His ContributionIt wasLytton Stracheywho gave a new direction to English biography with the publication

of hisEminent Victorians in 1918. Says A.C. Ward, The preface toEminent Victorians is

the manifesto of the method, arguing that it is a disadvantage for any biographer to know

too much about his human subject. Not accumulation of material, but scrupulous

selection and ruthless rejection should be (according to Strachey) the primary aim. Hehimself chose to work upon a period already encumbered with the result of too much and

too detailed research. Yet, as he looked through the mass, he saw that much available

material had remained unused, and this (perversely, perhaps, but naturally) seemed to

him more important than the rest. Nothing makes English people more uneasy than irony

and irony was Lytton Stracheys most intoxicating draught. For a while biography got

briskly drunk upon Lytton Stracheys irony, but the less mature irony of his followers

quickly made biography fatuous.

Stracheys Followers and Imitators

In short, Lytton Strachey broke away from the Victorian convention of praising sky-high

the heroes of the biographies, as if they were gods. He examined them critically andimpartially, and did not hesitate to point out their weaknesses, follies and foibles. As A.S.

Collins puts it, He saw them instead, as very human figures, with amusing weaknesses,

with comedy in their grandeur. He focussed a strong searchlight on them, which caught

them off their guard and revealed details that the sober, conventional biographers had

thought unworthy of notice or had omitted.Eminent Victorians proved very popular and

several editions were sold out within no time. Stracheywas widely imitated.

Edmund Gosse Father and Son

Though most of the credit for giving a new turn to biography deservedly goes to Lytton

Strachey, the importance in a similar connexion of Edmund GossesFather and Son (1907)was emphasized by Sir Harold Nicolson in The Development of English

Biography (1927)Father and Son is a precise account of the upbringing of Edmund Gosse

in an environment, which at an early age he found spiritually stiffling, and of the

differences on fundamental matters which developed between himself and his father after

the death of his mother. The book, Gosses one masterpiece, gave offence to the many who

in 1907, still clung to the view that parents were sacrosanct and beyond criticism by their

children. When that dogma disintegrated, the sensitive affection displayed in Father and

Son and its literary excellence received general recognition, and its place in literature is

assured on its high merit as a piece of writing and on its significance as a pioneer work

demonstrating that a love of truth concerning men and women does not imply any lack of

love for the men and women themselves.


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A.G. Gardiner His Contribution

Another great 20thcentury pioneer in the field of biography is A.G. Gardiner with

Prophets, Priests andKings in 1908, andPillars of Society in 1918. A.G. Gardiner ushered

in a new era in English biography. These little and interesting sketches of eminent

Englishmen are written without any edifying or reverential motive. Their principal aim isto delight rather than to instruct. The author does not suffer from any awe in the presence

of the greatest figures of that age all characters from Lloyd George to Charlie Chaplin are

viewed with a remarkable freedom and familiarity which is refreshing to us but must have

shocked the Victorians. Apart from this new approach, the biographical sketches are

remarkable for their literary grace and their authors command of the pictorial word and

phrase.

Andre Maurois; Fictional Biography

Andre Maurois works includeDisrael i ; King Edw ard VII and His Times; A riel ; and The Life of

Byron. He has created what has been rightly termed fictional biography or biographical novel,

divested of the weight of dates, names and places and yet presenting the essential truth about his

characters. His most notable achievement in this kind of biography is Ariel , a Life of Shel ley, light,

graceful and true. In the pages of this remarkable book Shelley appears as a simple, lovable

human being, without the aura of his luminous poetry.

Composed and Modified by:

Prof. Hafiz Waqas Ahmed Mughal


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Russells PACIFIST ACTIVISM DURING THE GREAT WARFundamentally, Russell was saddened and shocked by the speed at which warfever assimilated the British populace in 1914 and the massive street demonstrationsfor war. He was incensed at the historical habit of Parliament to leave foreign policyalone for the government to handle, and believed that the bellicosity taking over thecountry was an emotional, instinctive reaction that should be controlled by reason andeducation. Immediately upon the threat of war, Russell opposed it.

I am fixing some things in my mind which I forgot during the Boer War: not to hate

anyone, not to apportion praise & blame, not to let instinct dominate. The force that in

the long run makes for peace & all other good things is Reason, the power of thinking

against instinct.11

He drafted a letter entitled, Friends of Progress Betrayed for publication in The Nation,calling for a new political party to represent liberalism, and attacking the government forbetraying the people, but the publisher refused to run it, accepting instead a softer, The Rights of War, in which Russell maintained adamant opposition to secret diplomacyand called for Parliament to be involved in foreign affairs. The rejected letter did notmince words:

The friends of progress have been betrayed by their chosen leaders, who have plunged

the country suddenly into a war which must cause untold misery, and which and

overwhelming majority of those who voted for the present Government believe to be

unwise as it is wicked. No man whose liberalism is genuine can hereafter support the

members of the present Cabinet. A new party should beformed by the cooperation of

Radicalism and Labour [to] insure the triumph of democracy, not only in legislation, but

in administration, in the army, in the Civil Service, and in the conduct of foreign affairs.12

The letter that was published appeared only after Russells protest convinced the editorto revise his initial refusal, and included a disclaimer from the editor. Even toned downfrom the earlier version the essay was sufficiently strident to cause the mainstreampress to shy away from publishing Russell again until the middle of the war when someeditors objected to the curtailment of his civil liberties and published his point of view.

I cannot resist the conclusion that the Government has failed in its duty to the nation by

not revealing long-standing arrangements with the French; that it has failed in its duty

to Europe by not declaring its attitude at the beginning of the crisis; and that it has failed

in its duty to humanity by not informing Germany of conditions which would ensure its

non-participation in a war which, whatever its outcome, must cause untold hardship and


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the loss of many thousands of our bravest and noblest citizens.14

Displaying an obsessive refusal to adjust to the fact of the war, Russell seemednot able to settle into some relation to a normal life and await the end. He lost interest inhis scholarly pursuits. His strong feelings caused tension and a sense of estrangementwith his closest friends. He sought ways to become involved, to make a difference,

working full time for peace. Relatively quickly, he joined Norman Angell and others and

formed the Union for Democratic Control (UDC). The foundational representations of

the UDC encouraged British neutrality--intervention had been a mistake, Parliamentary

(rather than Executive) control over foreign policy (to prevent its being shaped in secret

and forced upon the country as an accomplished fact),15 postwar direct and open

negotiations with democratic parties and influences on the Continent, and peace terms

that would not humiliate the enemy or represent simply an artificial alteration of frontiers

from which new wars could spring.16 Russell was never completely sanguine about the

prospects for the UDC, however, and soon drifted away.At one point early in the war, Russell began to

think of the United States as the last hope for civilization. He considered making a lecture tour in

America to encourage peace, but was discouraged by the United States government,17 and accepted the

encouragement of Boston writer Elizabeth Ward Perkins to submit manuscripts to Ellery Sedgwick,

editor of The Atlantic Monthly. The first of these, Is a Permanent Peace Possible? was considered by

Sedgwick to approach the subject from a new direction, and was published in March 1915. Not unlike

Angells The Great Illusion, Russell used mainly economic arguments to demonstrate the futility of war

and stressed that an informed public opinion built on a just settlement from the current conflict would

be sufficiently strong to avoid future conflagration.18 He continued to base his work on economic

arguments and leaders manipulation of fear and aggression, advocating a fair and negotiated

settlement to the war and radical social change.

Examine the ideas expressed by Russell in his essay,Philosophy and Politics

Philosophical Scepticism and Political Conservatism

In his essay,Philosophy and Politics, Russells object is to consider the relationship of different

philosophies to different political systems, and to inquire how far it is a valid relationship.

Most philosophy, says Russell, has been a reaction against scepticism, though there have been exceptions.
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The most notable exceptions were Protagoras in antiquity and Hume in modern times. Both these men

were sceptics, and, as a result of scepticism, were politically conservative. They believed that nothing

should be done to weaken the popular force of tradition. Then there was Hobbes who, though less

sceptical than Hume, was equally convinced that government was not of divine origin and who advocated

the path of extreme conservatism.

EmpiricistsDenWritus and LockeBut thorough-going sceptics, such as Protagoras and Hume, have never been influential. The

really powerful opponents against whom Plato in ancient times and Hegel in modern times had to

contend were not sceptics but empiricists. These empiricists were Democritus in ancient times and Locke

in modern times.

Platos PoliticalPhilosophy: Totalitarianism, and Static Perfection

Plato was of the opinion that all the books of Democritus should be burnt. Democritus was a

materialist, a determinist, a free thinker, a utilitarian who disliked all strong passions, a believer in

evolution both astrbnomical and biological. He was also an ardent democrat. He was of the view that

poverty in a democracy was better than prosperity under despotism. Plato, who opposed the ideas of

Democritus, was a man of totalitarian views as we clearly see from his book, theRepublic. This book is

totalitarian in its political teaching and it advocates an ideal of static perfection. But this ideal of static

perfection is now generally believed to be inapplicable to human affairs. Man is a restless animal, not

content with the same state however satisfactory it might be. Man needs hope and enterprise and change.

Among modern philosophers, the ideal of unending and unchanging happiness has been replaced by that

of evolution. Evolution in this sense means an orderly progress towards a goal which is never quite

attained. This change of outlook is part of the substitution of dynamics for statics which began with

Galileo. The concept of dynamics has affected all modern thinking, whether scientific or political.

The Formulation of a Law of Progress

There is a certain kind of philosopher who believes in a formula of progress and thinks that the

world is becoming gradually more and more to his liking. Such a philosopher first decides which are the

features of the existing world that give him pleasure, and which are the features that give him pain. He,

then, by a careful selection among facts, persuades himself that the universe is subject to a general law

leading to an increase of what he finds pleasant and a decrease of what he finds unpleasant. Having

formulated his law of progress, he next turns on the public and says: It is fated that the world must

develop as I say. The man who first fully developed such a point of view was Hegel.

HegelsPhilosophy and Its Political Implications


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Hegelsphilosophy was so odd that we are surprised how it could have exercised so much

influence upon the minds of a multitude of intellectuals even outside Germany. Hegel uses the phrase the

Absolute Idea to convey his notion of real reality, and his definition of the Absolute Idea may thus be

stated: The Absolute Idea is pure thought thinking about pure thought. Indeed, Hegel sets out

his philosophy with so much obscurity that people thought it must be profound though actually it is

absurd. From this absurd philosophy Hegel derives equally absurd political views. From

hisphilosophy Hegel draws the following inferences: (1) that true liberty consists in obedience to an

arbitrary authority; (2) that free speech is an evil; (3) that absolute monarchy is good; and (4) that war

is good, and an international organization for the peaceful settlement of disputes would be most

undesirable. Hegel arrives at these conclusions through a line of reasoning which is far from rational.

Hegels Influence on Karl Marx

Hegels philosophy produced a deep effect on Karl Marx who took over some of Hegels most

fanciful tenets. More particularly, Marx took over the belief that history develops according to a logical

plan and is concerned to find ways of avoiding self-contradiction. Thus both Hegel and Marx advocated an

autocratic system, though the kind of autocracy in the two cases is different. It is only on the basis of

unquestioned dogma that an autocratic system can theoretically be justified; it is only if we accept Hegels

theory of history that we can justify an autocratic system such as was advocated by Hegel.

Lockes EmpiricistPhilosophy and its Connection with the Liberal Theory of Politics

Democracy has its theoretical justification in another philosophy altogether; and

that philosophy is empiricism. So far as the modern world is concerned, the founder of the philosophy of

empiricism was John Locke. Locke makes it clear how closely hisphilosophy is connected with his views

on liberty and toleration, and with his opposition to absolute monarchy. Locke constantly emphasizes the

uncertainty of most of our knowledge. He tries to make us aware of the possibility that we may be

mistaken in the views we hold and that we should therefore freely discuss our views with men holding

different views. His philosophy of empiricism thus leads to the liberal theory of politics.

The Meaning of Liberalism in Politics

The liberal creed, in practice, is one of live and let live, of toleration and freedom, of moderation

and absence of fanaticism in political programmes. Even democracy, when it becomes fanatical, ceases to

be liberal. Democracy became fanatical among the disciples of Rousseau in the French Revolution, and it

became fanatical in Cromwell. The genuine liberal never holds any belief in a dogmatic manner. The


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genuine liberal holds his opinions tentatively, and with the feeling that new evidence may at any moment

lead to his rejection of those opinions. This is the way in which opinions are held in science as opposed to

the way in which they are held in theology. Science is empirical, tentative, undogmatic. If anyone clings to

a belief in a dogmatic manner, his attitude is unscientific. The scientific outlook is thus the intellectual

counterpart of what is, in the practical sphere, the outlook of liberalism.

Agreement through Discussion

As has been indicated above, Locke was the first to develop in detail the empiricist theory of

knowledge. He preached also religious toleration, representative institutions, and the limitation of

governmental power by the system of checks and balances. Few of his doctrines were new, but he

developed them in a weighty manner at just the time when the English government was prepared to

accept them. He stood for order without authority. In the intellectual world it involves adequate

discussion and arriving at a measure of agreement among experts. In the practical world it involves

submission to the majority after all parties have been allowed to state their case. Themodern world is

witnessing a conflict of ideologies. It is only through a rational outlook, through a revival of liberal

tentativeness and tolerance, that the world can survive.

The Need of an Undogmatic Attitude in the Political Sphere

The empiricists theory of knowledge is half way between dogma and scepticism. Almost all

knowledge, according to this theory, is in some degree doubtful. The moderntheory of the atom has

pragmatic truth, because it enables us to manufacture atomic bombs. But it is possible that quite a

different theory may in time be found to give a better explanation of the observed facts. Scientific theories

are accepted as useful hypotheses to suggest further research; they are never regarded as immutably

perfect. In the sphere of practical politics, such an attitude has important consequences. If we could be

certain that all mankind will be happy through the abolition of private capitalism, it would then be right to

pursue this end by means of dictatorships, concentration camps, and world wars. But if we cannot be sure

that mankind will become permanently happy through the abolition of private capitalism, then there is no

justification for such cruelties as are perpetrated by dictators in concentration camps and through world

wars. Thus an undogmatic and liberal attitude has to be advocated in the political sphere.

The Practical Benefits of Political Liberalism

It is wrong to say that in a war between liberals and fanatics, the fanatics are sure to win. In every

important war since 1700, the more democratic side has been victorious. This is partly because democracy


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and empiricism (which are intimately interconnected) do not demand a distortion of facts in the interests

of theory. Also, it is wrong to say that dogmatic beliefs lead to a greater political and social unity in a

country. During World War II, for instance, no country showed a greater solidarity thanBritain which had

a democratic system of government and which did not rely upon the kind of dogmas preached by the

Nazis, the Fascists, and the Marxists.

Empiricism Recommended on Ethical Grounds

Finally, Russell recommends empiricism not only on the ground of its greater truth but also on

ethical grounds. Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion.

Dogma requires a prosecution of those who do not accept it. Dogma calls upon its followers to suppress

natural kindness in favour of systematic hatred. Rival dogmas lead to war because they do not recognize

the usefulness of free discussion; and war in our scientific age means universal death.

Thus, by sustained logical reasoning, Russell arrives at the conclusion that the modern world

needs the philosophy of empiricist liberalism. The modern world is technically unified, but it is politically

divided; and the world will not continue for long if beliefs are not held on the basis of this philosophy.

Russell convincingly exposes the absurdity of Hegels philosophy and its disastrous political

consequences. In the light of his exposition of Hegels philosophy, we really wonder how some of the best

minds ofEurope fell under Hegels spell. Similarly, Russell exposes the absurdity of Platos political beliefs

which deceived the world for ages. No right-thinking person can deny the value of empiricism and the

liberalism to which it leads in the political sphere. The gist of Russells entire reasoning in this essay is

that we should hold our political beliefs tentatively just as a scientist believes in his theories tentatively.

Russell strongly disapproves of a dogmatic holding of beliefs, and this disapproval is fully justified. The

dogmatist has a closed mind; he would pay no heed to the new evidence which may become available at

any time. It is for this reason that communists are so stubborn and so aggressive. While democracy is

tolerant towards its opponents, communism not only does not tolerate opposition but is always ready to

persecute and liquidate its opponents. Russell shows himself to be a true liberal, a true democrat, a true

lover of freedom, a true humanist. Even his advocacy of democracy is not fanatical; in fact, he gives us

concrete historical examples of the evil consequences of a fanatical advocacy of democracy. What can be

more broad-minded and large-hearted than the attitude of a strong believer in democracy who yet refuses

to offer fanatical support to it ?Philosophy and Politics is an essay which should have a liberalizing effect

on everyone who goes through it; at the same time it is an essay which greatly adds to our knowledge by

revealing to us how political beliefs are derived from the theories of professional philosophers.


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Russells prose is characterized by clarity, intellectual

brilliance, and a catholicity of temper. Discuss with reference to

the Unpopular Essays.

Russell, a Great Prose-stylist

Russell is one of the great prose-stylists of the twentieth century. Although a philosopher, he does

not write in a distorted or obscure manner as most philosophers do. His style is characterized by

intellectual brilliance, clarity and lucidity, a certain frivolity and gaiety, and a catholicity of temper.

As a matter of fact, the phrase intellectual brilliance is itself very wide in its scope, and it includes most

of the other qualities. After all clarity, wit, and catholicity of temper are different manifestations of

intellectual brilliance. Russell is incapable of being dull in his writing just as he is incapable of being

shallow. In the Unpopular Essays he deals with various subjectsphilosophical, political, sociological,

psychological, educational, historical, and so onand his expositions of all the ideas are illumined byclarity and a grace of expression. His writing exactly reflects his crystalline, scintillating mind. These

essays are, of course, far from being unpopular; in fact, they have a ready appeal for the average mind,

and there can be no doubt at all about their popularity. One reason for the popularity of these essays is

certainly the simplicity and charm of Russells prose-style.

Clarity, Lucidity, Grace and Elegance

The most conspicuous characteristics of this style are clarity, lucidity, grace, and elegance. Even

when Russell is dealing with ideas which are philosophical and technical, he succeeds in conveying them

to the reader by the manner in which he expresses them. He takes great pains to make ideas clear to the

reader, and yet his style is not at all forced or laborious. It is a sign of his intellectual brilliance that he

writes effortlessly and spontaneously in a style that is singularly free from all kinds of obscurity and

ambiguity. Such an effect is achieved by him by means of his method oflogical reasoning and by his habit

of offering homely examples to clarify ideas. Every thesis, every proposition, every theory, every

suggestion that he offers in the course of his Unpopular Essays is well-argued, well-reasoned, and

supported with appropriateexamples, illustrations, and analogies, most of which are drawn from either

well-known facts of history or everyday life,

Ideas, Intelligible and Coherently Presented

The essay,Philosophy and Politics, is not meant for everybody; but it is thoroughly intelligible to

well-educated men who may not have made a special study of philosophy. This essay is an attack on the

philosophy of Hegel with its destructive political implications, and a strong defence of Loc kes philosophy

of empiricism with its liberal political consequences. The argument in this essay proceeds in a most logical
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and coherent manner. The ideas are so presented that we have no difficulty in grasping them. And the

essay ends with a conclusion which is really a brief summing-up of what Russell has said in the course of

the essay. His conclusion is that empiricist liberalism is the only philosophy which can yield the desired

results in the world of today. In the essay, The Superior Virtue of the Oppressed, Russells thesis is that

writers, and especially moralists, have a tendency to admire certain sections of the population, which are

oppressed, on the supposed ground that these sections of the population possess certain superior virtues.

This thesis is also developed in a logical manner by means of several examples. In the essay, On Being

Modern-Minded, the central idea is that the modem-minded man tends to fall under the sway of current

opinions and shrinks from independent thinking; one of the consequences of this trend being that a

mentally solitary life seems pointless according to modern standards. This essay, though slightly difficult

as regards its ideas, is yet not perplexing or obscure in any way; all that it demands is a greater degree of

concentration than such essays asAn Outline of Intellectual Rubbish, Ideas That Have Helped Mankind

and The Functions of a Teacher. The three last-named essays are extremely easy, as regards both the

ideas and the expression. The same is true of Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind. In these essays we have

a transparency of thought, and a perfect simplicity of expression. A noteworthy feature of the style in all

these essays is a complete absence of digressions or any other form of superfluity. Russell is never prolix

or diffuse, even when an essay is somewhat long as isAn Outline of Intellectual Rubbish. Nor does he

create an impression of copiousness or over-abundance in the matter of expression. Every essay is

compact and well-knit, even when somewhat long.

An Unadorned but Effective Style

Russells style is freefrom embellishments and ornamental effects. It is a plain, unadorned style.

It is rarely charged even with emotion, being mainly addressed to the intelligence or the intellect as

distinguished from the heart or the feelings. And yet it is not uninteresting, dull, tedious or monotonous

in its effect. As has been indicated above, it is an elegant style with a charm of its own. Here, for instance,

is a specimen of his writing, showing an excellent combination of lucidity, clarity, and the grace of

expression:

Upon our collective wisdom during the next twenty years depends the question whether mankind shall be

plunged into unparalleled disaster, or shall achieve a new level of happiness, security, well-being, and

intelligence. I do know which mankind will choose. There is grave reason for fear, but there is enough

possibility of a good solution to make hope not irrational. And it is on this hopethat we must act. (Ideas

That Have Helped Mankind)


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In these lines an important idea has been expressed in utterly unembellished languagewhich, however,

does not fail to produce the desired effect upon us. Here is another example of this combination, which is

very frequent in Russells writing, of simplicity and elegance:

Education, which was at first made universal in order that all might be able to read and write, has been

found capable of serving quite other purposes. By instilling nonsense it unifies populations and generates

collective enthusiasm. If all governments taught the same nonsense, the harm would not be so great.

Unfortunately each has its own brand, and the diversity serves to produce hostility between the devotees

of different creeds. (An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish)

There are no rhetorical flourishes here, nothing theatrical. A weighty idea finds expression in the plainest

words which do not, however, fail to produce an effect.

Suited to Exposition and Argument

Russell has a style of writing which is admirably suited to exposition and argument. While reading

through these essays, we do not get entangled or enmeshed in the intricacies of thought. In the essay, The

Future of Mankind, Russell visualises three possibilities which are in store for mankind. And, after

discussing them, comes the following irresistible conclusion: There are now only two fully

independent States,America and Russia. The next step in this long historical process should reduce the

two to one, and thus put an end to the period of organized wars, which began in Egypt some six thousand

years ago. In the essay,The Functions of a Teacher, Russell makes the distinction between a true teacher

and a propagandist in a masterly manner. In the same essay the way in which he explains the meaning

of civilization is remarkable for its cogency and clarity.

Examples and Illustrations

Russells intellectual brilliance is also seen in the abundance ofexamples and illustrations which

he provides in the course of his essays, as also in the wealth of allusions that we find in them. In order to

bring out the difference between the freedom that exists in America and the absence of it in Russia, he

gives us as many as threeexamples in his essay, The Future of Mankind. In America one may hold

whatever view of Mendelism one may like to hold on the basis of available evidence; one may write a book

debunking Lincoln; one may hold or not hold that America is heading for an economic slump.

In Russia one can hold only those views which are officially sponsored. In the essay,An Outline of

Intellectual Rubbish, Russell gives us a host of examples to show how peoples minds have been


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dominated for centuries by superstitious beliefs. In the essay, Ideas That Have Helped Mankind, he

makes a statement that man is morally a mixture of good and evil, and then goes on to illustrate this

statement with reference to the brutal treatment of the Jews by the German Nazis, the expulsions of the

Germans ordered by the Russians, and the attitude of the British and the Americans towards German

children, all these being concrete cases to show the evil in man. Russell is never content with abstract

statements and ideas; everywhere we find concrete examples. Sometimes he offers parables or fables to

illustrate his point: for instance, he gives us the fable of the butchers and the bakers, and the fable of a

cow grazing in a field and running away in fright from a passing railway train, (in the essayIdeas That

Have Harmed Mankind)

The Abundance of Condensed Statements and Generalisations

Russells intellectual brilliance shows itself also in his capacity for making condensed statements

and generalisations which in most cases produce a striking effect. The following examples, chosen at

random, illustrate this point:

(1) Change is scientific, progress is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of

controversy. (Philosophy and Politics)

(2) Science is empirical, tentative, and undogmatic; all immutable dogma is unscientific. (Philosophy and

Politics)

(3) Children were idealized by Wordsworth and unidealized by Freud. Marx was the Wordsworth of the

proletariat; its Freud is still to come. (TheSuperior Virtue of the Oppressed)

(4) We are suffering not from the decay of theological beliefs but from the loss of solitude. (On Being

Modern-Minded)

(5) Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the

beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of truth as in the endeavour after a worthy manner of life. (An Outline

of Intellectual Rubbish)

(6) Fear generates impulses of cruelty, and therefore promotes such superstitious beliefs as seem to

justify cruelty. (An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish)

(7) To the propagandist his pupils are potential soldiers in an army. (The Functions of a Teacher)


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(8) Selfishness beyond a point, whether individual or national, is not wise. It may with luck succeed, but

if it fails failure is terrible. (Ideas That Have Harmed Mankind)

Irony, Wit, and Gaiety

Although Russell has always something serious to say in his essays, yet he is not too grave or

solemn a writer. His essays are interspersed with witty observations and comments. Irony and sarcasm

are often employed by him as weapons of attack. However, his wit is generally dry, though occasionally

also gay. (Wit is gay when an author really seems to enjoy his witty remark, but wit is dry when the author

makes a witty remark somewhat scornfully or with a sense of great superiority.) We have a striking

example of gay wit towards the close ofAn Outline of Intellectual Rubbishwhen he points that out

superstitions are often interesting and enjoyable. Once, he says, he received a communication from the

god Osiris, giving his telephone number. He frequently receives letters from men announcing themselves

as the Messiah. During prohibition in America there was a sect which maintained that the communion

service ought to be celebrated in whisky, not in wine because this belief gave them a legal right to drink

some hard liquor. Then there was the prophetess who duped her followers into believing that she could

walk on water. Another example of gay wit in the same essay occurs when Russell says that Aristotle could

have avoided the mistake of thinking that women had fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of

asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted. Examples of irony and sarcasm are many.

InPhilosophy and Politics, Russell mocks at Hegel by defining Hegels Absolute Idea as pure thought

thinking about pure thought. InThe Future of Man, Russell makes the following ironical observation

about Stalin: Stalin at all times knows the truth about metaphysics, but you must not suppose that the

truth this year is the same as it was last year. InThe Superior Virtue of the Oppressed viz have plenty of

irony; for instance, Russell here pokes fun at the Freudian theory of the unconscious mind in relation to

children.

Catholicity of Temper

Russell is a liberal philosopher. He suffers from no prejudices and no pet aversions. He has no

crotchets or fads. A philosopher who is never tired of preaching a scientific temper of mind could never be

narrow-minded in any sense of the word. His mind was large enough to take in its sweep all issues

pertaining to human welfare. He has expressed his opinions in the Unpopular Essays on many subjects

politics, economics, psychology, ethics, education, morality, science, scepticism, communism, civilization,

war, peace, world-government, and so on. And he has dealt with these matters in a style which reflects his


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catholic temper and his wide-ranging mind. He did not evolve a style according to any premeditated

theory or doctrine. His style came to him naturally. In his case, as in the cases of other great writers, it can

be said with confidence that the style is the man. His is a style which is rich in such devices as

parallelisms, antitheses, contrasts, similes, metaphors, quotations, allusions, anecdotes, simple words and

difficult words, short sentences and long ones. He attaches no undue importance to any particular

ingredient of style, his only concern being clarity of expression. We cannot use a single formula for this

style as we can, for instance, for Bacons style (concise and epigrammatic), for Carlyles style (er udite,

cumbersome, and eccentric), or for Ruskins style (mellifluous, musical prose). This is a style in which a

perfect synthesis has been achieved between its various ingredients. In its own way, it is a unique style,

even as the man himself was unique.

Composed and Modified by:

Prof. Hafiz Waqas Ahmed Mughal

english biography and its development in literature

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