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The Conquest of Happiness
 
 
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The Conquest of Happiness (Paperback)

by Bertrand Russell (Author) "Animals are happy so long as they have health and enough to eat ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Routledge; New edition edition (31 Dec 1975)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0415098645
  • ISBN-13: 978-0415098649
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 538,183 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #59 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy > Philosophers > Russell, Bertrand

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Product Description

Product Description

Bertrand Russell describes the purpose of this book as the putting together of some remarks on the state of happiness which are inspired by common sense, rather than any profound philosophy or deep erudition. It is based on the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort.
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Animals are happy so long as they have health and enough to eat. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars He never intended this as a "philosophical masterpiece", 3 Feb 2002
By A Customer
One of the reviewers complained that this was not a "philosophical masterpiece". Of course it isn't. It's an excellent work of popular psychology aimed at the layman. As Russell himself commented:
"Unsophisticated readers, for whom it was intended, liked it... Highbrows, on the contrary regarded it as a contemptible pot-boiler..."
These words are from Russell's autobiography.
The contention of the same reviewer that Russell was a deeply unhappy man is a plump over-simplification of the truth that anyone who is brilliant and intellectually rigorous as Russell was will never - in Russell's own words - find consolation in philosophy. Never satisfied by anything less then what could be backed up by fact he suffered from the corresponding lack of assurance that certainty brings. This does not mean his life was without joy or he was generally unhappy. Read and enjoy, and if you are a highbrow unable to go beyond Principia Mathemetica, at least try to recall that you are a human being for whom cerebration is a part time job and that there is more in Russell then is dreamt of in your philosophy.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read and Practical , 4 Dec 2006
By Lark (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Conquest of Happiness (Routledge Classics) (Paperback)
I have to say that when I bought this book I was pretty skeptical and even cynical about the topic matter, having read Russell's History of Western Philosophy and some of the other titles in the Routledge Classics and expecting something similar.

I was very pleasantly surprised and intend to re-read this book annually, Russell wrote this book for a mass audience, combining philosophy, psychology and common sense Russell first surveys what he believes to be the main causes of unhappiness, byronic unhappiness, competition, boredom and excitment, fatigue, envy, the sense of sin, persecution mania and fears of public opinion, and then proceeds to consider the possible sources of happiness Zest, affection, the family, work, impersonal interests and effort or resignation.

Some of it can appear dated and the work of the age in which it was written, for instance I think that he wrote about a sense of sin at a time where this could be a great deal more troubling to the conscience than present day, then again I remind myself that there are probably people and places where this remains very much the case today.

I cant fault Russell in his ultimate conclusion that to be happy one should live objectively, have a wide range of interests and be as sincerely and genuinely interested in and warm towards others, engaging with the world instead of retreating from it where possible. The book is full of great advice about how living after this fashion can permit you to cope with the sources of unhappiness which Russell perceives.

Russell also, in his wisdom, does not pretend to have all the answers and when he does touch upon the topic of psychology does say that it is possible that on occasion more professional advice and assistance could be called for, something that I think is very much lacking in other self-help genres or treatise.

I would also recommend this book as very readable, its jargon free, the pace is excellent and I enjoyed it as much as any book of its kind or more light reading like genre fiction.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable book if you suffer from unhappiness sometimes, 7 Jun 2005
By the great amphibian "Ruthenphelphs" (Hampshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
When searching in an online library with the keyword 'happiness' yesterday I was surprised to find a book by Bertrand Russell. The scope of his output was amazing, and it seems all to be very high quality. I was searching for a book that might cheer me up because I was feeling down, and this book really did cheer me up. It isn't mindless optimism but is good common sense on how to avoid a lot of the main causes of unhappiness. Russell was a brilliant scholar and suffered from unhappiness himself at times in his life, and he was even suicidal through most of his youth, and here he shares his own solutions in order to help others. Russell was a great altruist and I'm grateful for him to have shared these bits of common sense. There are chapters on the various causes of unhappiness in practice, (this is a practical book), including competition, boredom and excitement, fatigue, envy, the sense of sin, and persecution mania etc. From reading most of the book yesterday I have extracted more useful common sense than in any similar book. It reminds me of the good common sense from Plutarch's Moralia. This really is a gem for someone who feels unhappy, perhaps suffers from depression, and wants to feel better. If you don't have any such problems and you are just trying to read Russell's entire oevre to be a completest, then by skim reading this you might indeed not find it as interesting as a challenging philosophical work, but this is a useful practical book for anyone that needs it. As with any other practical books, they are probably not as interesting as theoretical books for general reading, but if they cover something that effects your life they can be a great help, and this is a very pleasant book. It definitely cheered me up just like it did a previous reviewer. Overall I'd recommend this to anyone who is feeling unhappy in general and doesn't really know why, as this will probably make you realise a lot of the reasons for feeling unhappy, and will also provide you with some valuable common sense.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars If only Bertrand were still around....
Bertrand Russell is possibly the only famous person I'd like to have met. He has colossal intelligence, wit, dignity and wisdom (As if I'd know). Read more
Published 2 months ago by BB Kierkegaard

5.0 out of 5 stars My book for "the island"
That was for sure one of the best books I've ever read (and I read a lot). Though written in 1930 it is still so true. Read more
Published 2 months ago by ela

4.0 out of 5 stars Drag yourself out of that pit of misery
Bertrand Russell, mathematician, philosopher and Nobel prize winner,appears to have lived a full and interesting life for 97 years so his philosophy to achieve happiness should be... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Sally Wilton

5.0 out of 5 stars A Do-it-yourself guide to happiness
Half DIY happiness guide and half philosophy of human behaviour. On the whole a complete must read. Russell manages to condense into a short and enjoyable book his personal views... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2004 by lleims

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not expect a philosophical masterpiece
This book consists of a collection of essays by one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Conquered
Russells words like "Life is not a drama in which we struggle a lot which at the end results in happiness". Read more
Published on 26 April 2000 by Saravanan(tensor_vector@yahoo....

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