[FOQ]⋙ Libro Our Knowledge of the External World Bertrand Russell 9781544722429 Books

Our Knowledge of the External World Bertrand Russell 9781544722429 Books

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Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician. Russell was one of the leaders in the British "revolt against idealism" and he is credited for being one of the founders of analytic philosophy. In 1950 Russell received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Our Knowledge of the External World is a book Russell wrote on logical positivism. Russell explains the issues with classical logic compared to modern logic.

Our Knowledge of the External World Bertrand Russell 9781544722429 Books

Review of the introduction: Amit Hagar writes the ideal introduction. He briefly gives a synopsis without presenting a mechanical regurgitation of the text, he presents points that enliven the mind on concepts to be encountered, and he does this with tremendous style. By the time you are through with Hagar's introduction, you will know whether this is a book that you want to read. Moreover, you will come away with important insights into the text, and others that pertain to the author himself.

Review of Book: Bertrand Russell is someone I considered to be a master of the genre of "written lectures," comparable to the style, lucidity, and thought-provoking of William James' lectures. One point to emphasize, for those not familiar with Russell, is Russell's effusive personality, which always buoys up in his works. In fact, my personal opinion is that he can border on obnoxious and imposing, as is seen in his "A History of Western Philosophy." However, he is hardly abrasive at all, in this book. There is a much vaunted flipside to this aspect of Russell's personality, namely, the effusive wit and tremendously funny jabs he takes at others and their philosophies, which is in full effect in this book. All of this is to say that the better qualities of Russell's style are in full force.

As far as content, while I have disparate opinions from Russell's own, his clarity makes many of his works, such as this one, masterful. He is honest in a way that many other philosophers are not, by way of this clarity, in the sense that many (dare I say most!) philosophers are purposely unclear, so that they can obscure those points in which their thought is weakest, and, in some cases, upon which the whole of their thought might be thrown out if made clear. The readability of Russell is seldom paralleled by any philosopher, and the thing I like about it is that his voice really comes through in his writing --a trait so desirable that one might number it among the reasons he won the Nobel Prize in literature. Anyone who reads Russell will immediately find that his presentation is such that it serves as a fantastic jumping off point for the reader, whether you agree with him or not, because he does so well to systematically attend the most immediately objections or concerns one might have.

Overall, based on the thoroughness of Russell's thought, how quick of a read this book is, the human characteristics that pervade Russell's work (really, you get a taste of Russell's personality, itself), and the fact that I consider this a book of importance to fundamental understanding of philosophy of science, not to mention that it is a classic, I recommend this book to all, especially those who have no formal background in philosophy or science.

Product details Paperback 148 pages Publisher CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 16, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 1544722427

Tags : Our Knowledge of the External World [Bertrand Russell] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician. Russell was one of the leaders in the British revolt against idealism and he is credited for being one of the founders of analytic philosophy. In 1950 Russell received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Our Knowledge of the External World is a book Russell wrote on logical positivism. Russell explains the issues with classical logic compared to modern logic.,Bertrand Russell,Our Knowledge of the External World,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1544722427,PHILOSOPHY History & Surveys General
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Our Knowledge of the External World Bertrand Russell 9781544722429 Books Reviews

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was an influential British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and political activist. In 1950, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, in recognition of his many books such as A History of Western Philosophy,The Problems of Philosophy,Mysticism and Logic,Why I am Not a Christian,Religion and Science,The Philosophy of Logical Atomism,The Analysis of Mind,Human Knowledge Its Scope and Limits, etc. [NOTE page numbers below refer to the 251-page Routledge paperback edition.]

This book contains the Lowell Lectures which Russell delivered in the spring of 1914. The editor notes in the introduction that “This topic was his second choice. His first, ‘the place of good and evil in the universe,’ was rejected by the [Lowell] Institute on the ground that the terms of the trust do not allow lecturers to question the authority of Scripture.” The editor also notes that the dramatic story Russell told in his 1956 book, Portraits from Memory, about the composition of this book is “without any basis at all.”

Russell begins the first lecture with the statement, “Philosophy, from the earliest times, has made greater claims, and achieved fewer results, than any other branch of learning… I believe that the time has now arrived when this unsatisfactory state of things can be brought to an end. In the following course of lectures I shall try… to indicate wherein the claims of philosophers have been excessive, and why their achievements have not been greater… important problems can, by a more patient and more adequate method, be solved with all the precision and certainty to which the most advanced sciences have attained.” (Pg. 13)

He suggests, “The true function of logic is, in my opinion… analytic rather than constructive; taken a priori, it shows the possibility of thitherto unsuspected alternatives more often than the impossibility of alternatives which seemed prima facie possible. Thus, while it liberates imagination as to what the world MAY be, it refuses to legislate as to what the world IS. This change, which has been brought about by an internal revolution in logic, has swept away the ambitious constructions of traditional metaphysics… Thus on all sides these systems have ceased to attract, and even the philosophical world tends more and more to pass them by.” (Pg. 18-19) He adds, “while the older logic shut out possibilities and imprisoned imagination within the walls of the familiar, the newer logic shows rather what may happen, and refuses to decide as to what MUST happen.” (Pg. 20) He admits, however, that “Mathematical logic, even in its most modern forms, is not DIRECTLY of philosophical importance except in its beginnings. After the beginnings, it belongs rather to mathematics than to philosophy… its beginnings … are the only part of it that can properly be called PHILOSOPHICAL logic…” (Lect. II, pg. 50-51)

He observes, “Belief in the unreality of the world of sense arises … in certain moods which… have some simple physiological basis… The conviction born of these moods is the source of most mysticism and of most metaphysics. When the emotional intensity of such a mood subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical reasons in favour of the belief which he finds in himself… The paradoxes apparently proved by his logic are really the paradoxes of mysticism, and are the goal which he feels his logic must reach if it is to be in accordance with insight. It is in this way that logic has been pursued by those great philosophers who were mystics---Plato, Spinoza, and Hegel. But since they usually took for granted the supposed insight of the mystic emotion, their logical doctrines were presented with a certain dryness…” (Pg. 55) He concludes the second lecture on the note, “And where a solution appears possible, the new logic provides a method which enables us to obtain results that do not merely embody personal idiosyncrasies, but must command the assent of all who are competent to form an opinion.” (Pg. 69)

In the third lecture, he argues, “The hypothesis that other people have minds must, I think, be allowed to be not susceptible of any very strong support from the analogical argument. At the same time, it is a hypothesis which systematizes a vast body of facts and never leads to any consequences which there is reason to think false. There is therefore nothing to be said against its truth, and good reason to use it as a working hypothesis. When once it is admitted, it enables us to extend our knowledge of the sensible world by testimony, and thus leads to the system of private worlds which we assumed in our hypothetical construction.” (Pg. 103-104) Then in the fifth lecture, he states, “The continuity of space and time, the infinite number of different shades in the spectrum, and so on, are all in the nature of unverifiable hypotheses---perfectly possible logically, perfectly consistent with the known facts, and simpler technically than any other tenable hypotheses, but not the sole hypotheses which are logically and empirically adequate.” (Pg. 155)

At the conclusion of Lecture VII, he explains, “If the theory that classes are merely symbolic is accepted, it follows that numbers are not actual entities, but that propositions in which numbers verbally occur have not really any constituents corresponding to numbers, but only a certain logical form which is not a part of propositions having this form. This is in fact the case with all the apparent objects of logic and mathematics… ‘Logical constants,’ in short, are not entities; the words expressing them are not names, and cannot significantly be made into logical objects except when it is the words themselves, as opposed to their meanings, that are being discussed. This fact has a very important bearing on all logic and philosophy, since it shows how they differ from the special sciences. But the questions raised are so large and so difficult that it is impossible to pursue them further on this occasion.” (Pg. 212-213)

In the final lecture, he says, “Freedom… demands only that our volitions shall be, as they are, the result of our own desires, not of an outside force compelling us to will what we would rather not will. Everything else is confusion of thought, due to the feeling that knowledge COMPELS the happening of what it knows when this is future, though it is at once obvious that knowledge has no such power in regard to the past. Free will, therefore, is true in the only form which is important; and the desire for other forms is a mere effect of insufficient analysis.” (Pg. 239-240)

This book was obviously written (mostly in 1913) when Russell still thought of the Principia as his crowning achievement, and before Wittgenstein’s 1916 criticisms had stung him so sharply. (See The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell. 1914-1944, pg. 66-67.) It is fascinating reading for anyone studying his philosophical thought.
Pages missed. Very poor quality.
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I love it. Thank you!!
Review of the introduction Amit Hagar writes the ideal introduction. He briefly gives a synopsis without presenting a mechanical regurgitation of the text, he presents points that enliven the mind on concepts to be encountered, and he does this with tremendous style. By the time you are through with Hagar's introduction, you will know whether this is a book that you want to read. Moreover, you will come away with important insights into the text, and others that pertain to the author himself.

Review of Book Bertrand Russell is someone I considered to be a master of the genre of "written lectures," comparable to the style, lucidity, and thought-provoking of William James' lectures. One point to emphasize, for those not familiar with Russell, is Russell's effusive personality, which always buoys up in his works. In fact, my personal opinion is that he can border on obnoxious and imposing, as is seen in his "A History of Western Philosophy." However, he is hardly abrasive at all, in this book. There is a much vaunted flipside to this aspect of Russell's personality, namely, the effusive wit and tremendously funny jabs he takes at others and their philosophies, which is in full effect in this book. All of this is to say that the better qualities of Russell's style are in full force.

As far as content, while I have disparate opinions from Russell's own, his clarity makes many of his works, such as this one, masterful. He is honest in a way that many other philosophers are not, by way of this clarity, in the sense that many (dare I say most!) philosophers are purposely unclear, so that they can obscure those points in which their thought is weakest, and, in some cases, upon which the whole of their thought might be thrown out if made clear. The readability of Russell is seldom paralleled by any philosopher, and the thing I like about it is that his voice really comes through in his writing --a trait so desirable that one might number it among the reasons he won the Nobel Prize in literature. Anyone who reads Russell will immediately find that his presentation is such that it serves as a fantastic jumping off point for the reader, whether you agree with him or not, because he does so well to systematically attend the most immediately objections or concerns one might have.

Overall, based on the thoroughness of Russell's thought, how quick of a read this book is, the human characteristics that pervade Russell's work (really, you get a taste of Russell's personality, itself), and the fact that I consider this a book of importance to fundamental understanding of philosophy of science, not to mention that it is a classic, I recommend this book to all, especially those who have no formal background in philosophy or science.