Portrait of Bertrand Russell
Left · Thinker or writer · From history

Bertrand Russell

British philosopher and pacifist, 1872 to 1970

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Was jailed for opposing World War I, campaigned against nuclear weapons and won the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature, arguing for reason, free thought and democratic socialism.

Bertrand Russell sits in the left-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and strongly libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly peace-first on war and peace, strongly secular on religion and strongly progressive on culture.

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Where Bertrand Russell sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsSlightly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismStrongly non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Bertrand Russell

Jean Jaurès French socialist leader, 1859 to 191498%Carl Sagan American astronomer and science communicator, 1934 to 199697%Albert Einstein Physicist, 1879 to 195597%Simone de Beauvoir French philosopher and writer, 1908 to 198696%Yuval Noah Harari Israeli historian and author96%John Lennon British musician and peace activist, 1940 to 198095%Stephen Hawking British theoretical physicist, 1942 to 201895%José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Prime Minister of Spain, 2004 to 201195%

People furthest from Bertrand Russell

Louis XIV King of France, 1643 to 17151%Vladimir Putin President of Russia, 2000 to present (with a term as prime minister)1%Ruhollah Khomeini Supreme Leader of Iran, 1979 to 19891%Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader of Iran, 2026 to present1%

Political views closest to Bertrand Russell

Left-libertarianismCombines strong personal freedom with the view that natural resources and wealth should…95%Civil libertarianismPuts rights such as free speech, privacy and due process above almost every other goal,…94%Democratic socialismSeeks democratic control of key industries, broad public ownership and universal services.91%Anarcho-syndicalismWorkers organize in revolutionary unions that take over industry and run society without…91%

Read more about Bertrand Russell

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Bassano Ltd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.