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Questions tagged [bertrand-russell]

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher and logician who is regarded as one of the founders of analytic philosophy and modern logic.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher and logician who is regarded as one of the founders of analytic philosophy and modern logic.

Some of Russell most known works include his logicist project, his logical atomism, and his theory of definite descriptions.

Key Publications:

On Denoting (1905): a key text in philosophy of language. Russell proposes the concept of denoting phrases, subject phrases which can serve as definite descriptions.

Principia Mathematica (1910–1913): Russell and Alfred North Whitehead present a foundation of mathematics and argue for logicism - the notion that mathematics is reducible to logic.

Why I Am Not a Christian (1927): Russell questions both whether a God could exist and if religion is necessary to lead a moral life.

A History of Western Philosophy (1945): Russell explores the history of the field of philosophy, from ancient philosophers to the 20th century.

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Did Russell understand Gödel's incompleteness theorems?

Russell was active in philosophy (although no longer in math) for many years after the Gödel's 1931 publication. Gödel's paper were not obscure, and Russell would have been aware of their effect on the Principia and his logicism (and Hilbert's…
Artem Kaznatcheev
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Is it possible for something to have no cause?

Bertrand Rusell writes in his essay "Why I Am Not A Christian": There is no reason why the world could not have come into being without a cause; [...] Warren Rachelle, however, states in his response: To simply state that "there is no reason why…
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How inaccurate is Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy?

I finished reading A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell a while ago. Not being an expert by any stretch I thought it was very good (informative, accessible, enjoyable etc..). But I have read in a number of different places that it…
Crab Bucket
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Why is Russell so critical of Aristotle?

In A History of Western Philosophy, Russell argues: I conclude that the Aristotelian doctrines with which we have been concerned in this chapter are wholly false, with the exception of the formal theory of the syllogism, which is unimportant.…
amphibient
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What are some good books about the history of philosophy in the 20th century?

I just read "The History of Western Philosophy" and liked it very much. I would like to now read a history that covers the span after Russell wrote the book, from 1940-present. Can anyone recommend a good book that explains the history of thought…
skaz
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What is the axiom of reducibility? And what philosophical controversies did it incite?

Trying to come to terms with basics concerning philosophy of logic, and wish to ask about some particular issue: What is in simple words the axiom of reducibility put forward by Russell? And what is its philosophical context? Among which…
L.M. Student
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What sources discuss Russell's response to Gödel's incompleteness theorems?

In his book My Philosophical Development Russell writes, In my introduction to the Tractatus, I suggested that, although in any given language there are things which that language cannot express, it is yet always possible to construct a…
user13627
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Logic, Russell, joke

There is a Russell impression with a joke on youtube, in which Russell puts the following questions to G. E. Moore: Do you have any apples in that basket? Do you have some apples in that basket? Do you have apples in that basket? Moore denies the…
Toothrot
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Why was Russell discontent with Wittgenstein's view on "logic as tautologies"?

While reading Logicomix, I came across a scene that I don't quite understand. Russell: ...Logicians are creating elaborate ways to "say the same things in different words"...this "everything is a tautology" stuff smells of metaphysical bosh! This…
Dimen
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What did Russell mean when he wrote that the null-class, the class having no members, did not exist?

I am not quite sure I interpret the following sentence correctly in Bertrand Russell's paper on existential import: and among classes there is just one which does not exist, namely, the class having no members, which is called the null-class. This…
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A Question Regarding Russell's Paradox

Consider the 'set' behind Russell's Paradox: R = { x | x is a set and x ∉ x } in light of Cantor's definition of set ("aggregate"/Menge) in his CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOUNDING OF THE THEORY OF TRANSFINITE NUMBERS (Dover edition), By an…
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How does Russell's argument for identity refute that of Wittgenstein's?

In My Philosophical Development Russell wrote, I come next to what Wittgenstein had to say about identity, which has an importance that may not be obvious at once. To explain this theory, I must first say something about the definition of identity…
user13627
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Defenses of Descartes's rationality in regards to "cogito" fallacy?

What philosophers and in what writings, if any, have attempted to explain or defend Descartes's rationalism in respect to the "cogito ergo sum" fallacy pointed out by philosophers like Russell, and Wittgenstein?
Kyle
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What did Russell intend to achieve with "The Impact of Science on Society"?

I have been reading Russell's "The Impact of Science on Society" and I found it to be a very strange book. This book has become like a Bible to some conspiracy theorists, and I can see why. However, I find it hard to see just what Russell actually…
Ben
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What were some of Russell's arguments against Kant's system of thought?

I just finished reading Bertrand Russell's 'A History of Western Philosophy', and while I thoroughly enjoyed the book and find Russell's own work quite interesting, his overview of Kant seemed a bit unfair and at odds with what I understand about…
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