Listen to Bertrand Russell, the

DAY 66 Listen to Bertrand Russell, the English Voltaire

聆听英国伏尔泰（Voltaire）—— 伯特兰·罗素（Bertrand Russell）的演讲  
[vɒlˈteə] 
[ˈbɜrtrənd]
弗朗索瓦-马利·阿鲁埃 ，笔名伏尔泰，18世纪法国启蒙思想家、文学家、哲学家 。 （1694年—1778年 ）
伏尔泰是十八世纪法国资产阶级启蒙运动的泰斗，被誉为“法兰西思想之王”、“法兰西最优秀的诗人”、“欧洲的良心”。主张开明的君主政治，强调自由和平等。

伯特兰·阿瑟·威廉·罗素（Bertrand Arthur William Russell，1872年—1970年），英国哲学家、数学家、逻辑学家、历史学家、文学家，分析哲学的主要创始人，世界和平运动的倡导者和组织者。罗素1950年获得诺贝尔文学奖，主要作品有《西方哲学史》《哲学问题》《心的分析》《物的分析》等。

His greatest hits are a good substitute for the intelligent conversation you are missing

他最成功的作品是当今社会缺少的智慧对话的替代品。
hit n. 打；打击；（演出等）成功；讽刺  vt. 打击；

N-COUNT If a CD, film, or play is a hit, it is very popular and successful. (唱片、电影或戏剧的) 成功

substitute  /ˈsʌbstɪtjuːt/

1 Among many other achievements, Bertrand Russell is the only philosopher to have cut an album of his work. Released in 1962, “Bertrand Russell Speaking” was a greatest hits of the many interviews he had given. Subjects range from science and religion on side a, to “taboo morality” and “fanaticism” on side b. If discovered in the bedroom of a teenager of the time, the record might have seemed as scandalous as any rock’n’roll track. Because, as well as being a pioneering logician, Russell was an uncompromising freethinker—and an early advocate of free love.

在众多成就中，伯特兰-罗素是唯一一位将自己录制成专辑的哲学家。1962年发行的《伯特兰-罗素访谈》，是他在众多访谈中脱颖而出的代表作，其中讨论的主题从一个角度的科学和宗教，延申到另一个角度的 "道德禁忌 "和 "宗教狂热主义"。在当时，如果这张专辑从一个青少年的卧室里被发现，它可能会像摇滚乐曲一样让人觉得可耻。因为，除了是一名前卫的逻辑学家，罗素也是一位不妥协的自由思想家，并且还是一个亲密关系自由的先驱倡导者。

cut 录制（音响）；剪辑  
fanaticism  /fəˈnætɪsɪzəm/
scandalous/ˈskændələs/
track  A track is one of the songs or pieces of music on a CD, record, or tape. (录制在CD、唱片或磁带上的) 一首歌曲; 一首乐曲；追踪；小路 [træk] 
pioneering logician  /ˌpaɪəˈnɪərɪŋ/   /ləˈdʒɪʃn/
uncompromising  /ʌnˈkɒmprəmaɪzɪŋ/
advocate  /ˈædvəkət/

录制

2 Fifty years after his death, Russell’s voice—an enduring call to liberal dissent—is preserved on YouTube, where self-isolating listeners can find a trove of his words and wisdom. With an unfailing wit, the recordings cover mathematics, literature, atomic physics and history. Entertaining and improving at once, they are a delightful stand-in for the intelligent conversation you might currently be missing.

在他去世50年后，罗素的声音——对自由主义异议者的持久呼唤——被保存在YouTube上，在这里，受疫情影响而自我隔离的听众可以找到他的话语和智慧的宝库。录音内容涵盖了罗素有关数学、文学、原子物理学和历史等方面的思考和观点，幽默风趣，娓娓道来。这些录音寓教于乐，可能是目前你所缺少的智慧对话的最佳替代品。
self-isolating   自我隔离（covid 19）
enduring /ɪnˈdjʊərɪŋ/
dissent/dɪˈsent/    n. （意见的）不一致；
<反>consent   
trove   [trəʊv]  宝库
atomic [əˈtɒmɪk]
stand-in  n. 替身

3 Russell’s personal anecdotes are a highlight. Brought up by a grandfather who was twice prime minister, he grew up in the patrician splendour of the Liberal establishment. Once, at a dinner, the young Russell “was left tête-à-tête” with William Gladstone, the “Grand Old Man” of British politics. “I was only 17 and very, very shy, and it was by far the worst experience of my life,” Russell recalled. “Nothing since has terrified me.” He remembered Gladstone saying only one thing: “This is very good port, but why have they given it me in a claret glass?”

anecdote    /ˈænɪkdəʊt/   n
​a short, interesting or funny story about a real person or event

patrician  /pəˈtrɪʃn/  =aristocratn. 贵族
a person from the highest social class
adj. 贵族的；显贵的 n. 贵族；有教养的人

splendour  /ˈsplendə(r)/  n 显赫
grand and impressive beauty
n.壮丽; 雄伟; 豪华;

Liberal establishment 自由制度

tête-à-tête  两人密谈

Grand Old Man  举足轻重的人

port 另一种酒
claret  [ˈklærət]  一种酒 干红葡萄酒
claret glass  喝葡萄酒的杯子（波尔多葡萄酒杯）   

4 Despite his Victorian upbringing, Russell’s views and legacy are remarkably contemporary. He once speculated that only six people had read his “Principia Mathematica”, three of whom had been murdered by Hitler; nevertheless, the book laid the early foundations of computer science. Russell helped establish the analytic tradition, which rejected grand dogmas in favour of clear and precise inquiry, and became the basis of most university philosophy courses. And he was a famously committed atheist, using his formidable rhetorical skills to prosecute that cause.

formidable   /ˈfɔːmɪdəbl/  强大；娴熟的
​if people, things or situations are formidable, you feel fear and/or respect for them, because they are impressive or powerful, or because they seem very difficult

atheist  无神论 /ˈeɪθiɪst/
a person who does not believe that God or gods exist

agnostic /æɡˈnɒstɪk/
​(religion) holding or showing the belief that it is not possible to know whether God exists or not
n.不可知论者(认为上帝存在与否是不可知的);     

rhetorical skills  修辞技巧 
rhetorical   /rɪˈtɒrɪkl/
1> ​(of a question) asked only to make a statement or to produce an effect rather than to get an answer
2>  ​(formal) connected with the art of rhetoric

rhetoric  /ˈretərɪk/    n. 修辞，修辞学；华丽的词藻
1> speech or writing that is intended to influence people, but that is not completely honest or sincere
2>  (formal) the art of using language in speech or writing in a special way that influences or entertains people

prosecute  继续从事（other：间距）

5 In a debate broadcast by the bbc in 1948 Russell came up against Frederick Copleston, a Jesuit priest, in one of the listening public’s earliest exposures to the philosophical arguments against God. Thanks to YouTube, you can listen to the stand-off again. Copleston, palpably irritated and wearied by his opponent’s obstinance, pleads: “We seem to have reached an impasse.” “We can press the point a little I think,” Russell cheekily replies.

obstinance 固执
plead  辩护
 impasse 僵局；思路

stand-off  /ˈstænd ɒf/  n   (双方) 僵持局面;
stand-off (between A and B) a situation in which no agreement can be reached  =deadlock

palpably  /ˈpælpəbli/  adv.易觉察地;
in a way that is easily noticed by the mind or the senses

press the point  坚持这一点 ，反复提及
to repeat an idea often in a way that is annoying to show that it is very important

 cheekily  /ˈtʃiːkɪli/  毫不客气的；厚脸皮的
​in a way that is rude and funny or annoying

6 On his death, Russell was eulogised as “the English Voltaire”, a witty, polymathic rebel. As with Voltaire, though a few of his books are still in publication, most now gather dust. But through the alchemy of the internet, his voice lives on. One appreciative listener has commented: “Imagine if this guy had a podcast.” The informal online archive will have to suffice. ■

eulogise   /ˈjuːlədʒaɪz/   称赞
(as something) to praise somebody/something very highly

 witty, polymathic rebel  幽默博学的叛逆者

 polymathic ['pɒlimæθ] 
n. 博学的人  adj. 知识广博的

alchemy /ˈælkəmi/  炼金术；魔力
1> a form of chemistry studied in the Middle Ages that involved trying to discover how to change ordinary metals into gold
2> ​(literary) a mysterious power or magic that can change things

appreciative   /əˈpriːʃətɪv/  欣赏的
​appreciative (of something) feeling or showing that you are grateful for something

archive  /ˈɑːkaɪv/ 档案
1> a collection of historical documents or records of a government, a family, a place or an organization; the place where these records are stored
2> an electronic record of the data on a computer system, stored on a separate device for safety and security

suffice  /səˈfaɪs/  v  足够; 足以;
to be enough for somebody/something

拓展阅读：

What I Have Lived For

Bertrand Russell

7 Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love ,the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

hither and thither  到处（这里；那里）

wayward/ˈweɪwəd/   = headstrong
difficult to control

  verge  边缘

8 I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy -- ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it , next, because it relieves loneliness-- that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world , into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what -- at last -- I have found.

ecstasy  /ˈekstəsi/  =bliss
1> a feeling or state of very great happiness
2> (in religion) a state in which somebody experiences extreme emotions, through prayer and meditation, that take them beyond the limits of the individual self

the rim of the world  世界的边缘

unfathomable lifeless abyss  深不可测的无生命深渊
unfathomable
  /ʌnˈfæðəməbl/难以理解的 ; 莫测高深的
1> ​too strange or difficult to be understood
2> if somebody has an unfathomable expression, it is impossible to know what they are thinking

prefiguring  预示的景象的

mystic miniature  神秘缩影

9 With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much I have achieved.

apprehend  /ˌæprɪˈhend/
1> (of the police) to catch somebody and arrest them
2> (old-fashioned) to understand or recognize something

Pythagorean 英[paɪˌθægəˈri(ː)ən
毕达哥拉斯的追随者;

flux /flʌks/  n 变迁；不稳定；流量
1> ​[u] continuous movement and change
2> (specialist) a flow; an act of flowinga flux of neutrons

number holds sway above the flux.
数字描述万事万物运行的规律 （数字支配万物变动）

hold sway 支配；统治
hold away 远离

10  Love and knowlidge , so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of lonelines, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

 reverberate   /rɪˈvɜːbəreɪt/  =echo
1>  (of a sound) to be repeated several times as it is reflected off different surfaces
2> reverberate (with/to something) (of a place) to seem to shake because of a loud noise

oppressor/əˈpresə(r)/  n
​a person or group of people that treats somebody in a cruel and unfair way, especially by not giving them the same rights, etc. as other people

 make a mockery of  把……当作笑料；嘲弄

alleviate