Bertrand RussellWith 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 life: 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 |
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action Analysis of Mind appears argues argument assumption attribute Autobiography of Bertrand belief Bertrand Russell cause Christian class of classes colour complete complex compresence concept defined definition denote difficulty ence entities Essays existence experiences expressions fact false favor G. E. Moore Human Knowledge Ibid identical identity of indiscernibles image-proposition images inductive Inquiry into Meaning intrinsic judgment later lectures Logic and Knowledge Logical Atomism logically proper name Meaning and Truth memory mental moral naïve realism occurs one's particular penny percepts perspectives Philosophy of Logical physical objects possible postulate predicate Principia Mathematica Principles of Mathematics Problems of Philosophy propositional function published question reason relation Russell calls Russell says Russell's theory satisfied sense sense-data sensibilia sentence Society in Ethics space spatio-temporal takes theory of descriptions things tion true University W. V. Quine Whitehead Wittgenstein word-proposition