BR TO HELEN FLEXNER, 24 JULY 1911
BRACERS 55892. ALS. American Philosophical Society Library. SLBR 1: #174
Edited by M. Forte and N. Griffin. Proofread by K. Blackwell

<letterhead>
Trinity College,
Cambridge.1
24. July 1911

My dear Helen

Very many thanks for your interesting letter. I don’t remember what I said about free will. My view is (a) that determinism is not proved (b) that it is very much more probable than the contrary (c) that I feel convinced there is some way of making the whole puzzle clear, and that no one has yet got to the bottom of it. It seems to me that the notions of “dependence”, “determination” etc. are not so clear as most people think, and perhaps, when made clear, do not warrant some of the uses they are put to.2 I do not believe in a soul which has an origin and destiny separate from the body.

Yes, Manichaeanism3 is very attractive. But like Xtianity it views the world too much under moral categories. Good and evil are alike human: the outer world is neither. I agree with you in feeling fury at the idea of a God of love who created such a world as this. But I think the intellectuallya essential error, the anthropomorphizing of the outer world, is committed by Manichaeanism also.

I find that religion and the religious attitude to life occupy a very great deal of my thoughts. I am glad to hear your view of life has simplified. I find year by year I grow simpler — I think all the important truths are simple. I should immensely like to hear more of your “spiritual adventure”.4 You are certainly right in counting upon my sympathy. There is nothing simulated in it, nor should I ever simulate a interest I did not feel.

Thank you very much for your kind words about Alys and me. There has been much pain, spread over a long time. Now one turns one’s thoughts resolutely to the future. For my part, I find so much work that I wish to do that I have no difficulty in avoiding vain regrets over what is inevitable.

I have been interrupted, or would have written more. Now I must stop as I am very busy — pupils, a popular book on philosophy to write, proofs, etc. Please remember me to Simon and give my love to Lucy.

Yours affectionately
Bertrand Russell.

• 1

  [document] Proofread against a photocopy of the original letter.

• 2

  notions of “dependence”, “determination” etc. … do not warrant some of the uses they are put to Russell worked on these and related themes the following year for a paper, “On the Notion of Cause”, which he gave to the Aristotelian Society on 4 November 1912 (published in the Society’s Proceedings, 1913; 18 in Papers 6).

• 3

  Manichaeanism The view that good and evil are forces of equal power in the world.

• 4

  “spiritual adventure” Helen said she had been going through some sobering experiences which had changed her life and turned her toward a more religious view of the world. She had come to find Manichaeanism attractive. She did not offer any details.

Textual Notes

• a

  intellectually inserted