ABSTRACT
After more than a decade of popular writing, Russell decided to return to work on technical philosophy, and delivered a course of lectures at Oxford on ‘Words and Facts.’ He had married again and a son, Conrad, was born to his third wife, Patricia, in 1937. The New York Times, repeating certain wide-spread myths about Russell, noted on 18 April:
‘White-haired Bertrand Russell, whom sophisticates know for his unique views on sex, marital relations, how to bring up children, and international affairs, was proud tonight after becoming a father at the age of 64. “I’m very pleased—very,” the philosopher said at his country home after announcing the birth of a son. “The mother and the baby are doing extremely well.”
‘But Earl Russell, whose pen has flowed freely to advise other fathers how to rear their families, insisted the upbringing of his family was “a private affair”.
‘He once ran a school where the children could do just what they pleased—go naked when they felt the urge, swear and attend classes as the spirit moved them.
‘Bertrand Russell succeeded to an earldom in 1931, when an elder brother died, but he has taken little part in the deliberations of the House of Lords. Besides being a pacifist, he favors total disarmament and the surrender of all Great Britain’s colonies to the League of Nations. These ideas are not very popular with most of the peers. …’
