THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS ACCORDING BERTRAND RUSSELL

Fernando Alcoforado *
Bertrand Arthur William Russell was one of the most influential mathematicians,
philosophers and logicians who lived in the twentieth century. The Conquista da
felicidade (Conquest of Happiness), one of the works of Bertrand Russell, represents a
very important contribution to the debate on the question of happiness (RUSSELL,
Bertrand. A Conquista da Felicidade. Rio: Editora Nova Fronteira, 2015). For Bertrand
Russell, the first cause of happiness that can be sought by all men is pleasure. For
pleasure, one must understand the achievement of something that overcomes some
obstacle. Russell understands that man always craves pleasure and he can only be
reached when the difficulties in seeking it are overcome.
To make sense of the word "pleasure," Russell feels that overcoming obstacles requires
some expertise. Expertise is key to encouraging creative instincts. In this understanding,
the pleasure at its base should be understood as the realization of something that
engenders creativity (emphasis ours). In this conceptualization, pleasure can be
achieved both by scientists who try to answer problems by rigorous methods, and by
painters and writers in contemplating their completed works. Therefore, Russell
indicates that pleasure is the way to happiness when it awakens creativity in man
(emphasis ours).
Still in this incentive to creation, Russel explains that important factors to achieve
happiness are cooperation and association (emphasis ours). That is to say, creations and
inventions must be dialogued or communicated to increase the incentive among men for
the vocation. The association of men, around a belief, can bring scientific or artistic
questions, in different ways, but that cause pleasure. Happiness, then, has a well-defined
path which is the belief in the ideals of the search for pleasure (emphasis ours).
In the period that Russell lived, there are philosophical explanations that treat man as a
being-to-death or treat life as a drama. These explanations often treat life meaningless or
empty of meanings. Such explanations are considered by existentialist schools. Russell
does not understand life this way. For him, when there is this loss of meaning man is led
by nonsense or manias that are masks to escape from reality. In the book, in question,
Russell devotes a specific chapter that diverges from such existentialist explanations.
For him, people want to be loved and not tolerated.
Melancholy is the loss of the taste of living. And Russell devotes a special chapter, in
his book, to try to investigate this loss by the taste of living. Let us see the main
arguments that he presents. The condition for man to distance himself from melancholy
is to have a taste for living. And happiness is the translation of this appetite for life. By
appetite to live, one must understand the interest in the things that life presents to us.
For Russell, the more objects Man is interested in, the more occasions he will have to be
happy. Russell explains that it is the interest in things that surround life, but in
perceiving such things we often find ourselves. The pursuit of happiness in this
understanding means that Man is interested in as many things as possible (emphasis
ours).
According to Russell, interests, when they are very restricted, distance Man from
happiness because the chance of disappointment is even greater. Therefore, the
continuation of the path to happiness is the taste for life and this implies being surprised

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by the world. For there to be redemption of the taste of living, Man must feel loved.
Being loved, Man understands affection as a kindness (emphasis ours). We will make it
clear that Russell wants to seek the basic meanings so that happiness is rescued by
everyone regardless of their location or culture. So, goodness must be understood as
something universal and for this the investigation gains a simpler meaning. Man must
rescue the good "in himself." An important aspect of this "good in himself" is the
affection that we should receive and at the same time give. By affection, Man must not
act for interest, but always aim at the inherent goodness of the human being. Therefore,
affection is a disinterested exchange that should not aim for safety, protection or escape
from loneliness. On the contrary, affection must be encouraged insofar as it integrates
Man into a union, into an association that is of no interest. Just the communion of the
taste for life.
Russell's text was written with an ethical hedonistic drive. That is, happiness must
always be considered as a good persecuted by everybody (emphasis ours). The essential
categories that we seek to demonstrate in this text reflect Bertrand Russell's attempt to
point out the paths to happiness and its obstacles. Unlike happiness, unhappiness is
produced by the lack of love for life that causes the disintegration of man (emphasis
ours). The happy man, on the contrary, if we consider the categories presented for
living, we will feel the unity between the inner and the outer world. Such unity is what
prevents him from understanding about life as drama or as melancholy. The unity of the
intimate with the external is the fundamental cause of happiness (emphasis ours) which
is a path to be covered by any contemporary ethical discussion.
In short, Bertrand Russell considers that happiness and that pleasure at its basis should
be understood as the realization of something that engenders creativity. Cooperation and
association are important factors in achieving happiness in scientific work and work in
general. This condition will hardly be achieved in a society characterized by
competition and conflict between human beings as the capitalist. In other words,
happiness will never be achieved in capitalism. Russell concludes that happiness, then,
has a well-defined path which is the belief in the ideals of the pursuit of pleasure and is
also the translation of the appetite for life. For his appetite to live, Russell understands
how to be interested in things that life presents to us. For there to be redemption of the
taste of living, Man must feel loved. By being loved Man understands affection as a
kindness. This condition will not be achieved also in a disintegrating society like the
capitalist in all quarters of the Earth. Misfortunes are produced by the lack of love for
life that cause the disintegration of Man. For Russell, the more objects Man is interested
in, the more occasions he will have to be happy. The pursuit of happiness in this
understanding means that Man is interested in as many things as possible. Happiness
should always be considered as a good to be pursued by everybody. This conclusion of
Russell points out that happiness must be pursued and shared by all population who,
under the present conditions, is impossible to be fulfilled. Russell ends by highlighting
the unity of the intimate with the external as the fundamental cause of happiness. This
means that happiness will only be complete if there is compatibility between the
individual and the external environment.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.

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Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável-
Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do
Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática
Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015) and As Grandes Revoluções Científicas,
Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016).