A History Of Political Theories From Rousseau To Spencer

By itself, a study of motion can tell us almost nothing about that which, in any given in]stance, is being moved. Similarly a study of behavior can, by itself, tell us almost nothing about the indi]vidual mind-body that, in any particular instance, is exhibiting the behavior. But to us who are mind-bodies, a knowledge of mind-bodies is of paramount importance. Moreover, we know by observation and experience that the differences between individual mind-bodies are enormously great, and that some mind-bodies can and do profoundly affect their social en]vironment. On this last point Mr. Bertrand Russell is in full agreement with William James and with prac]tically everyone, I would add, except the proponents of Spencerian or Behavioristic scientism. In Russell's view the causes of historical change are of three kinds economic change, political theory and important indi]viduals. "I do not believe," says Mr. Russell, "that any of these can be ignored, or wholly explained away as the effect of causes of another kind." Thus, if Bis]marck and Lenin had died in infancy, our world would be very different from what, thanks in part to Bis]marck and Lenin, it now is. "History is not yet a science, and can only be made to seem scientific by falsifications and omissions." In real life, life as it is lived from day to day, the individual can never be explained away ...»