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On Metaphysics: Selections from the Writings of Bertrand Russell
Is the world of appearances the real world?
Are there facts that exist independently of our minds?
Are there vague objects?
Russell on Metaphysics brings together for the first time a comprehensive selection of Russell's writing on metaphysics in one volume. Russell's major and lasting contribution to metaphysics has been hugely influential and his insights have led to the establishment of analytic philosophy as a dominant stream in philosophy. Stephen Mumford chronicles the metaphysical nature of these insights through accessible introductions to the texts, setting them in context and understanding their continued importance. Russell on Metaphysics is both a valuable introduction to Bertrand Russell as a metaphysician, and an introduction to analytic philosophy and its history.
Are there facts that exist independently of our minds?
Are there vague objects?
Russell on Metaphysics brings together for the first time a comprehensive selection of Russell's writing on metaphysics in one volume. Russell's major and lasting contribution to metaphysics has been hugely influential and his insights have led to the establishment of analytic philosophy as a dominant stream in philosophy. Stephen Mumford chronicles the metaphysical nature of these insights through accessible introductions to the texts, setting them in context and understanding their continued importance. Russell on Metaphysics is both a valuable introduction to Bertrand Russell as a metaphysician, and an introduction to analytic philosophy and its history.
- GenresPhilosophy
264 pages, Paperback
First published February 13, 2003
42 people want to read
About the author
Bertrand Russell
1,242 books7,315 followersBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, was a Welsh philosopher, historian, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, pacifist, and prominent rationalist. Although he was usually regarded as English, as he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 12, 2022
“As well know, Mr. Russell produces a different system of philosophy every few years.”
—C.D. Broad, colleague of Bertrand Russell, as quoted in Realms of Philosophy by William S. Sahakian and Mabel Lewis Sahakian
Arguably the rawest and realest book on philosophy, for we are seeing Bertrand Russell find its footing in metaphysics, and all along, he flirted, entertained, engaged, and eventually left out most philosophical stances for him to clarify his own. This is contrary to the Russell we know, because it is, without a doubt, a book that compiles the metaphysical papers of a philosopher akin to Plato who kept on writing and writing to attain clarity against contradictions (if not like Bob Dylan who kept on writing and writing, if not recording his songs to make his art alive). It is basically an editorial triumph this book is, to see the progress of a philosopher who knows what to do, but don’t know where to go: from the young Russell who was romantic and still shaky in his arguments to the founder of modern analytic philosophy that was calculated and frank. It is him in his identification, that he does not pretend to consider one thing as absolute, but rather moves on to achieve clarity and progress for metaphysics, if not the whole philosophy.
—C.D. Broad, colleague of Bertrand Russell, as quoted in Realms of Philosophy by William S. Sahakian and Mabel Lewis Sahakian
Arguably the rawest and realest book on philosophy, for we are seeing Bertrand Russell find its footing in metaphysics, and all along, he flirted, entertained, engaged, and eventually left out most philosophical stances for him to clarify his own. This is contrary to the Russell we know, because it is, without a doubt, a book that compiles the metaphysical papers of a philosopher akin to Plato who kept on writing and writing to attain clarity against contradictions (if not like Bob Dylan who kept on writing and writing, if not recording his songs to make his art alive). It is basically an editorial triumph this book is, to see the progress of a philosopher who knows what to do, but don’t know where to go: from the young Russell who was romantic and still shaky in his arguments to the founder of modern analytic philosophy that was calculated and frank. It is him in his identification, that he does not pretend to consider one thing as absolute, but rather moves on to achieve clarity and progress for metaphysics, if not the whole philosophy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review