The world never lacks great thinkers whose thought-provoking ideas and arguments changed the society’s views and the history of the world. Bertrand Russell, the 1950 winner of Nobel Prize in Literature, was one of them. The British philosopher, logician, essayist, social critic, and activist was seen as one of humanity’s most lucid minds. His thorough knowledge about different issues allowed him to have penetrating insight and analysis of human psyche that reveals the root causes of the problems in the world. Among the long list of his groundbreaking contributions is the ‘Four Human Desires’ which include acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity and love of power.
Russell had no issues against these desires, saying they are natural. The real problem, however, is that they cannot be satisfied. The more humans have what they want, the more they want it, wrecking a havoc on the world in many aspects ranging from political and environment.
In 1970, Russell fell ill with influenza and died shortly. Lady Katharine Jane Tait, his daughter, founded the Bertrand Russell Society in 1974 to preserve his work.
