 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
We have all kinds of shocking impulses and also creative impulses which society forbids us to indulge, and the alternatives that it supplies in the shape of football matches and all-in wrestling are hardly adequate. Anyone who hopes that in time it may be possible to abolish war should give serious thought to the problem of satisfying harmlessly the instincts that we inherit from long generations of savages. For my part I find a sufficient outlet in detective stories where I alternatively identify myself with the murderer and the hunts-man-detective, but I know there are those to whom this vicarious outlet is too mild, and for them something stronger should be provided.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Social Cohesion and Human Nature, Dec. 1948.
In: Listener, v.40(n.1040): 30 Dec. 1948
Reprinted, with much omitted, as Chapter 1 of Authority and The Individual.
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/AI_1949.pdf