Appointment Denied : The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell [Hardcover]

Thom Weidlich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000

In the spring of 1940, the Great Depression was still spreading misery throughout the world, and war in Europe threatened to drag America into the conflict. Amid these global troubles a tempest in a teapot was brewing on the island of Manhattan, where the board of the City College of New York had just appointed the renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell to teach. With the appointment of this most celebrated of philosophers, the board had intended to boost the school's image. Instead, it found itself suddenly embroiled in a controversy involving the city's conservative Episcopal bishop, charges that it was encouraging radical and communist views at the college, and political in-fighting between the popular liberal mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, and corrupt Tammany Hall politicians with a hidden agenda. Journalist Thom Weidlich masterfully reconstructs this major political imbroglio, which not only captured the attention of New Yorkers but very quickly received national coverage. As political theatre, with both farcical and dramatic elements, the denial of Russell's appointment is interesting in and of itself: The sanctimonious and outraged Bishop Manning demands to know how the board could have chosen a man with such radical views on sex, marriage, and religion. Then, amazingly, a seemingly ordinary Brooklyn housewife files a lawsuit to stop Russell's appointment. Journalists begin to wonder, what is her motive? Is she being manipulated by Tammany Hall politicians and their rivalry with the liberal mayor? Before long civil libertarians are holding rallies at City College in defence of the philosopher and academic freedom. And for Russell this trying situation couldn't have come at a worse time with his funds running low and his third marriage falling apart. But beyond its intrinsic interest, this 1940s' clash between an independent thinker and the guardians of public morality is still of the greatest relevance in light of today's cultural debates and arguments over standards of decency. Journalist Thom Weidlich has written an engrossing page-turner that brings recent history to life and makes us rethink the perennial issues of free thought and moral standards at publicly funded institutions.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Weidlich's focus is a narrow one: the controversy that swirled around the City College of New York's 1940 offer of a teaching position to Bertrand Russell. But the battle over the Russell appointment involves such a fascinating cast of characters--among them, Russell himself, the city's Episcopal bishop, Fiorello LaGuardia, Tammany Hall functionaries, Albany legislators, and professors and students of various political stripes--that this small story casts light on larger (and later) issues. The campaign against permitting the British philosopher to corrupt New York students' minds was aggressive, drawing support from religious leaders (and followers) of a number of denominations; legislators moved beyond concern about Russell to investigate subversive activity in the schools, ultimately dismissing 20 teachers (11 others resigned). Russell never did teach at CCNY (and remained bitter about the college's weak response to the campaign against him). "Another battle in religion's war on science," the Russell affair also constituted, Weidlich maintains, a serious "disagree[ment] about the role of education in a democracy." Mary Carroll

Review

"Weidlich has shown that in its time the controversy was neither trivial nor comic; rather it was a dress rehearsal for the witch-hunts of Senator McCarthy." -- Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies, Summer 2000

"...very well-written and tells a good story...a fine example of intellectual history." -- The American Rationalist, March/April 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 233 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1St Edition edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573927880
• ISBN-13: 978-1573927888
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,508,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Inquisition à la New York, June 16, 2000

By 

"wasm" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Appointment Denied : The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell (Hardcover)

Appointment Denied: the Inquisition of Bertrand Russell. By Thom Weidlich. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY 2000.

Weidlich, a journalist and former reporter for the National Law Journal, has described in lucid detail how famed philosopher Sir Bertrand Russell was denied a position on the faculty of City College (CCNY) of the City of New York. The 1940 incident has been compared to the "monkey trial" of John Scopes. I have read widely from Russell's work as well as about Russell and find Weidlich's book is definitive about Episcopal Bishop Manning's successful efforts to gain support from Catholics and politicians to keep Russell from teaching. Also, Weidlich explains Russell's views in layman's language that is understandable and on the mark. If the Vatican can apologize for Galileo, one wonders when will the Episcopalians apologize for their egregiously narrow-minded bishop?

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars taxes, morality, academic freedom: guaranteed entertainment., September 24, 2000

By 

Jon McAuliffe (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appointment Denied : The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell (Hardcover)

weidlich provides a stimulating and briskly-paced account of a seemingly minor historical event, which nonetheless serves as the springboard into a wide-ranging and meticulous consideration of deep, difficult issues: how much intellectual freedom in academia is too much? do individual taxpayers, as the ultimate funders of public academic institutions, get to answer this question? or is it their elected representatives? or neither? and can our society allow the answer to find its fundament in one particular religion's belief system? or in a morality that transcends particular religions? does such a morality exist?

the historical coverage of the russell controversy itself is thorough, carefully documented and generally unimpeachable. weidlich is conscious of the story's amusing, sometimes ridiculous components, which adds to the enjoyment. the book is worth the price for that analysis alone. the treatment of the bigger themes is gravy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LORDY LORDY!, April 22, 2003

By 

Allen Windsor (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Appointment Denied : The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell (Hardcover)

Weidlich's study of how and why Lord Bertrand Russell was denied a teaching job at New York's City College is definitive.

It is difficult to see how anyone else could have written a clearer explanation of the embarrassing decisions made by the college's and the city's officials in denying Russell the right to express any views whatsoever on a college campus.