Bertrand Russell and Education in World Citizenship

Abstract

Bertrand Russell entered the field of educational theory in 1915, advocating education for the cultivation of good individuals. He proposed an educational system which would respect the rights of the child and produce the ideal character, one who possessed vitality, courage, sensitiveness, and intelligence. In 1932, however, Russell became an advocate of education in citizenship, education designed to produce loyalty to a world state. This study describes three factors associated with Russell’s change of emphasis, and concludes that this change represents an evolution of his thought mandated by new sets of circumstances and experiences, and entirely within the framework of the empirical view of knowledge which he advocated.

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