Bertrand Russell

The major problem surrounding historiology is that as long as the nature of time and historicity are not understood, the concept of process appears artificially grafted onto its explanations, rather than the explanations deriving from the concept. That is why we must insist that a rigorous approach be taken with this problem. But time and again philosophy has had to abandon its attempts to develop such an explanation—for example, in the case of its endeavor to be a positive science, as in Comte; a science of logic, as in Hegel; a critique of language, as in Wittgenstein; or a science of propositional calculus, as in Russell.

In: Historiological Discussions, Silo

Chapter 3: History and Temporality, 3.1 Temporality and Process

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

Philosopher, mathematician, logician and writer.

Biographical information

1872 Birth on 18 May in Trellech, Wales: Russell is born into an influential British family.

1890–93 Studies at Trinity College, Cambridge: He studies mathematics and philosophy and develops an early affinity for logic.

1903 Publication of The Principles of Mathematics: Establishes his reputation as a major logician.

1910–13 Publication of Principia Mathematica (with Alfred North Whitehead): A fundamental work of logic and mathematics.

1916 Dismissed from the University of Cambridge: Loses his teaching position due to his pacifist stance during the First World War, he loses his teaching position.
1945 Publication of A History of Western Philosophy: Becomes a bestseller and introduces Russell to a wider audience.

1950 Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature: Honouring his diverse and influential work.

1961 Arrest for protesting against nuclear weapons: Demonstrates his lifelong political activism.

1970 Death in Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales, at the age of 97.

Topics

Philosophy, logic and social, political and moral issues.

Major works

Power in People and Nations (1938): An analysis of the nature of power, both in individuals and in societies, and its impact on politics and social life.
A Praise of Idleness and Other Essays (1935): In this collection of essays, Russell defends the value of leisure and criticises society's obsession with work and productivity.
History of Western Philosophy (1945): One of his most well-known works, in which he examines the development of philosophical thought from the ancient Greeks to the modern era.
Marriage and Morality (1929): In this book, Russell questions social conventions about marriage and sexuality and proposes a more open and critical morality.
Principia Mathematica (1910-1913): This work, co-authored with Alfred North Whitehead, is one of the most influential works of logic and mathematical philosophy of the 20th century. It aims to create a logical basis for mathematics.

Influence

Bertrand Russell's work had an enormous influence on philosophy, mathematics and logic. With Principia Mathematica (written together with Alfred North Whitehead), he laid the foundations for modern logic and influenced the development of computer science. His analytical approach shaped 20th-century philosophy, particularly analytical philosophy and the philosophy of language.

He was a committed pacifist who vehemently opposed the First World War and even accepted a prison sentence for doing so. He later became a prominent critic of the nuclear arms race and co-founder of the Pugwash Conferences on nuclear disarmament. Russell also campaigned for individual freedom, education and social justice, and criticised authoritarian regimes, both in the West and in the East. His works and activism inspired movements for peace, human rights and rationality.

Why is he mentioned in ‘Historiological Discussions’?

Some thinkers and philosophers dedicated their studies and efforts to the goal of equipping philosophy with the principles of a rigorous science. Bertrand Russell was one of them. He made fundamental contributions to the development of mathematical logic and propositional calculus, which laid the foundation for later advances in these fields.

Through Russell and other thinkers such as Hegel or Wittgenstein, philosophy sought to constitute itself as ‘science’ in the modern sense, through the use of logic or language. However, Silo argues that formal logic, however powerful, is insufficient to understand the deeper aspects of human experience, such as time, history and consciousness, which require a phenomenological approach.

The ‘science of propositional calculus’ refers to the logical-mathematical approach that Russell developed in his Principia Mathematica in particular. This book, which he co-authored with Alfred North Whitehead, represents a monumental attempt to base mathematics on logical principles. The calculus of propositions, or propositional calculus, is a central part of this work because it is concerned with the study of propositions (or statements) and how they can be combined using logical operators such as ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘not’, ‘if... then’ to form more complex expressions.

Russell's particular contribution to the development of the ‘science of propositional logic’ was the rigorous formalisation of logic. This formalisation made it possible to apply strict rules to the treatment of statements and to show exactly how logical truths follow from each other. By treating logic in a similar way to mathematics, Russell helped to consolidate propositional calculus as a formal scientific tool, which had not been clearly structured in philosophy before.

Russell's contribution to the propositional calculus was to provide a robust logical structure that promoted precision in philosophical and mathematical thinking. However, according to Silo, this precision alone was not enough to answer the more fundamental questions of historiology, which require taking into account phenomenological aspects beyond formal logic.

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