Matter Over Mind

Bertrand Russell came here last week to offer a "neutral monism" as the answer to the problem of the dichotomy of mind and matter. Unfortunately, his audience was treated to a demonstration of the supremacy of matter that left several of them badly bruised.

The eager monists who arrived at New Lecture Hall early to get front seats for Earl Russell's lecture were the victims of a renunciation of mind by the sponsors of the talk, when the scene was suddenly shifted to Sanders Theatre because New Lecture proved insufficient to accommodate enough spectators.

It was unwise to schedule such an obviously popular talk by one of the world's leading philosophers in any but the most spacious hall available. It was even less wise to expropriate completely the people who had shown the most interest in the talk.

When an over-capacity crowd is expected at a similar event in the future, perhaps some loudspeaker system could be devised which would threaten neither the priorities nor the personal safety of the audience.