Proposed Roads to Freedom


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 53 reviews)

Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (1872 – 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, political activist and Nobel laureate. He led the British "revolt against idealism" in the early 1900s and is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his predecessor Gottlob Frege and his protégé Ludwig Wittgenstein. In this book, written in 1918, he offers his assessment of three competing streams in the thought of the political left: Marxian socialism, anarchism and syndicalism.

(Summary by Wikipedia/Carl Manchester) (5 hr 52 min)

Chapters

00 - Introduction 16:06 Read by Todd Garrison
01 - Marx and Socialist Doctrine 43:32 Read by Roger Melin
02 - Bakunin and Anarchism 38:28 Read by John Kooz
03 - The Syndicalist Revolt 51:09 Read by John Kooz
04 - Work and Play 41:56 Read by John Kooz
05 - Government and Law 44:49 Read by Thinking
06 - International Relations 37:49 Read by Thinking
07 - Science and Art Under Socialism 30:15 Read by Matthew Reece
08 - The World as it Could be Made 48:22 Read by Thelma Meyer

Reviews

Good with the exception of ch8


(4 stars)

The woman reading the last chapter (chapter 8) was obviously pausing the recording with every sentence. Not fluid and constant change of tone. Poor recording/reading.


(3.5 stars)

The reading is clear and interesting for the most part. thanks to the readers for trying to pronounce all of the French. The content is heavy on the college level vocabulary but understandable. The concepts seem to be validated in current events and history for the most part. the book makes clear certain concepts that are obvious once pointed out but nonetheless are seldom realized. There are also many unfounded assumptions. overall I found the reading worthwhile and mostly clarifying.

aged well


(3.5 stars)

though Russell was reviewing a slew of political ideas current in WWI, even before the first socialist government, his analysis and values sound fairly modern and do well to remind us today of the perennial issues for reformers.

Justin


(5 stars)

I am glad Justin with 'college' level education has been able to address the problems in the the thesis of one of the greatest philosophical minds of the twentieth century


(4 stars)

Interesting thoughts. Nice audio but some parts of the last chapter. Many thanks to all the readers.