Bertrand Russell was one of the most prominent British mathematicians and philosophers from the beginning of the twentieth century. He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy. His varied interests have led him to become widely known even outside his own domains of professional specialization. In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
The Problems of Philosophy was written as some sort of an introduction to philosophy, having a general reader in mind. The topics and issues that are discussed herein are some of the most prominent and lasting ones in philosophy – what is knowledge, how are we able to acquire it, can we ever be completely certain of things that we know. Russell presents many of these topics from a historical perspective, introducing the reader to some of the most prominent philosophers who had previously dealt with them.
The writing in this book is lucid and precise, without becoming pedantic. This is by no means a lighthearted and watered-down survey of philosophy, so the reader should expect to have to be constantly intellectually engaged with the material presented here. However, the book is also not a technical work aimed at the experts, and no prior knowledge of philosophy is assumed. As long as the reader has a keen mind and appreciation for critical thinking, this book will be an enjoyable and stimulating adventure.
Bertrand tells us that if we wish to become philosophers we must be willing to tackle the absurd. Obviously! A lot of time is spent on Bishop Berleley, Plato and Descartes and idealism – we are all imaging matter; matter is a figment of our imagination; it’s all in your head.
The author finally assures us that there is something in the universe besides our comprehension of ourselves and our dreams. There does seem to be “reality” or matter even if it is perceived differently or inadequately by each of us. Bertrand finally states that Berkeley’s notion that the objects apprehended must be mental has no validity whatsoever. One chapter deals with those that think that we can know more than we actually can know and with those who think, on the other hand, that nothing is knowable – Hegel in the first case and Hume in the latter.
Finally we come to the nature of philosophy and its value. Philosophy deals in questioning the unknown and once the unknown becomes known it is no longer called philosophy but science.
This book is a model of exposition, covering an amazing amount of ground in just over 150 pages – and the excellent writing makes it seem even shorter than that. It is not really a standard introduction to all of philosophy, however, since it deals mainly with questions of epistemology. But as an introduction to that branch of philosophy, it is definitely one of the best.
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