Bertrand Russell

by Alfred Jules Ayer

With extraordinary concision and clarity, A. J. Ayer gives an account of the major incidents of Bertrand Russell's life and an exposition of the whole range of his philosophy. "Ayer considers Russell to be, except possibly for Wittgenstein, the most influential philosopher of our time. In this book [he] gives a lucid account of Russell's philosophical achievements."—James Rachels, New York Times Book Review

"I am sure [this] is the best introduction of any length to Russell, and I suspect that it might serve as one of the best introductions to modern philosophy. . . . Ayer begins with a brief, austere, and balanced account of Russell's as in Russell's autobiography this means his thought, books, women, and politics. Tacitus (and Russell) would have found the account exemplary. Ayer ends with a sympathetic and surprisingly detailed survey of Russell's social philosophy. But the bulk of this book consists of a chapter on Russell's work in logic and the foundations of mathematics, followed by a chapter on his epistemological views and one on metaphysics. . . . I find it impossible to imagine that this book will not remain indefinitely the very best book of its sort."— Review of Metaphysics

"The confrontation or conjunction of Ayer and Russell is a notable event and has produced a remarkable book—brilliantly argued and written."—Martin Lebowitz, The Nation

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Biography, Reference

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

In 1910, Sir Alfred Jules Ayer was born in London into a wealthy family. His father was a Swiss Calvinist and his mother was of Dutch-Jewish ancestry. Ayer attended Eton College and studied philosophy and Greek at Oxford University. From 1946 to 1959, he taught philosophy at University College London. He then became Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. Ayer was knighted in 1970. Included among his many works are The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge (1940), The Problem of Knowledge (1956), The Origins of Pragmatism (1968), Metaphysics and Common Sense (1969), Bertrand Russell (1972) and Hume (1980), about philosopher David Hume. Later in life, Ayer frequently identified himself as an atheist and became active in humanist causes. He was the first vice president of the British Humanist Association and served as its president from 1965 to 1970. He was an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Press Association from 1947 until his death. He was also an honorary member of the Bertrand Russell. In 1988, Ayer had a near-death experience in the United States after choking on salmon and subsequently losing consciousness. He wrote of his experience in “That Undiscovered Country” (New Humanist, May 1989): “My recent experiences have slightly weakened my conviction that my genuine death, which is due fairly soon, will be the end of me, though I continue to hope that it will be. They have not weakened my conviction that there is no god. I trust that my remaining an atheist will allay the anxieties of my fellow supporters of the British Humanist Association, the Rationalist Press Association and the South Place Ethical Society.” He died shortly after at age 78 in London. D. 1989.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Ayer

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ayer/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/AyerbyT...

http://badassphilosophers.tumblr.com/...

http://www.informationphilosopher.com...

Reviews

[T. Tokunaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

【Bertrand Russell / A J Ayer / 1972, The Viking Press】

--Russell is a consistent utilitarian in that he draws an ethical distinction between the qualities of different forms of satisfaction. (P127, v. A)

This would be a perfect passage on what we feel whenever we finish a book by Russell. He doesn't distinguish the Epicureanism of his elegant style from intellectual rigor, calling them 'a mental life.' A great part of his works like this - both its almost revolutionary meaning for our thinking:

--it (note: the theory of type) lays down the principle that the meaning of a propositional function is not specified until we specify the range of objects which are candidates for satisfying it. (P44, ii, C)

and their often big flaws, like this:

--'What makes the sign the expression of a tru proposition is the existence of the state of affairs which it signifies, and from this point of view it is immaterial whether the sign operates through resemblance or in any other manner. (P64, ii, E, against Russell's theory of pictorial image and language)

are overlooked, because he was opposite to American analytical polemics (Ayer is also contrary to their style, but he intentionally controlled his sophistication there, probably learning from his Language, Logic and Truth's shortcomings).

Ayer used to be an angry young man in philosophy in 1930s under the flag of logical positivism, but here he is more of a historical positivism who deems solid, stable, or even sedate textual studies of the philosophers like Bertrand Russell (he also wrote biographies of Hume, Wittgenstein and Voltaire) - and he succeeded in being even more analytical by adhering to what were written by precedent greats.

[Dr Susan Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bertrand Russell was on my radar since the Ban the Bomb marches in England in the late 1950s to 60s. As a university student I learnt more about himas a philosopher and a friend had a record ofhim speaking about his life whenin old age. His thoughts about Wittgenstein weredrownedout by Bertie pokingthe firenext to his chair. Then I read his Aurobiography trilogy and late his History of Western Philosophy. Ayer gives a goodhistorical summary ofhis life and loves in chaper 1. The rest of the book goes into detail on his mathematical and logic contributions- a bit beyond me, but then his carefor social justice,which iswhy Bertie should be remembered a useful precis in the ModernMasters series..

[A YOGAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ayer: Bertrand Russell (1972)
A. J. Ayer (1910 - 1989), selbst eine Schlüsselfigur des logischen Positivismus, legt mit dieser zwei Jahre nach Russells Tod erschienenen Studie eine präzise philosophische Würdigung seines Lehrers vor. Er seziert Russells Denken im Kontext der analytischen Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts und macht dessen fundamentalen Einfluss auf Logik und Erkenntnistheorie sichtbar. Dieses Buch ist das Werk eines Philosophen über einen Philosophen – und zeigt, dass intellektuelle Giganten am schärfsten von ihresgleichen verstanden und eingeordnet werden.

[Seamusin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK. Perhaps more for the academic philosopher; in quite some depth and involving Bertrand's opinions at different points in his career and heaps of analysis and commentary.

[Jacques · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very god oriented

Russel was an interesting guy

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First line - Bertrand Russell was unique among philosophers of this century in combining the study of the specialized problems of philosophy, not only with an interest in both the natural and the social sciences, but with an engagement in primary as well as higher education, and an active participation in politics.