Philosophical thought of Bertrand RUSSELL

Bertrand Russell was a most famous intellectual of the 20th century, being also one of the founders of the analytical philosophy and great figure of the Mathematical logic. Russell separated ethics from philosophy, also developing the theory of relationships or pluralism, that is, a metaphysical doctrine that tells us about the existence of a plurality of different substances: the complex is made up of simpler things. At unPROFESOR.com we tell you what the philosophical thought of Bertrand Russell.

Russell (1872-1970) is one of the most prominent figures in 20th century philosophy, being known for his many contributions in various fields of science such as, for example, philosophy, mathematics, logic, metaphysics and ethics. In this lesson from UnPROFESOR.com we detail what the main characteristics of Bretrand Russell's philosophical thought.

Russell tackled a wide variety of disciplines throughout his life He also left a large number of works in which he left us numerous contributions, both in the field of philosophy and in mathematics, logic and the social sciences. In addition, Russell was also a political activist capable of revolutionizing the intellectual landscape of the 20th century. thanks to positions and theories focused on ensuring that humanity agrees to live according to the reason.

Between the main keys to Russell's thought We can highlight the following.

Russell's paradox or the barber's paradox

In 1903, Russell published his work The principles of mathematics, a work in which he stressed the existence of a failure in logic in one of the areas of mathematics. Specifically, a paradox that implied that set theory, a theory that deals with sets of functions or numbers, presented a contradiction that he explained through the analogy of Barber. A village barber shaves all men except those who shave themselves.

This situation created two groups, those who shave themselves and those who shave the barber, but if the barber shaves himself, which of the two groups does he belong to? Russell gave an answer to the paradox by developing a theory that created a hierarchy. Thus, the set of all sets was treated differently from the smaller constituent sets.

He founded analytic philosophy together with Gottfried Frege

Russell broke with Hegelian idealism and denied its doctrine, especially regarding the fact that to know something concrete it is necessary to know all its relations. For Russell, the world is a succession of independent facts and knowing them depends only on the data obtained through experience. It's one of the main representatives of analytical philosophy.

He developed the theory of relationships and the philosophy of language.

A theory that is based on pluralism and defends that the complex is made up of the simplest things. A theory that constitutes a critique of the Leibniz's philosophy. Thus, Leibniz's theories are based on the belief that every statement has a subject and predicate structure and that all things are a whole (monism).

This doctrine of internal relations did not make sense and he investigated in the field of logic highlighting his work within the philosophy of language. Thus, for Russell, philosophical controversies come from conceptual confusions derived from a bad use of language. One solution would be to clarify all statements when applied to science, art, religion, among other areas.

Russell wanted eliminate superstition and all the unfounded ideas of philosophy, logic and science being the main tools for the scholar.

ORplaced ethics on the same level as philosophy

Separating them and developing ethical theory.

Russell carried out numerous contributions in different areas of science and knowledge. His works had a profound impact on the development of analytical philosophy and the rejection of idealism. To understand the philosophical thought of Bertrand Russell and its importance, here we leave you

• Logic and mathematics. Russell strove to reduce mathematics to logic, being very influential in this field.
• Break with idealism and emphasis on logical analysis, both keys to analytical philosophy. In addition to providing a scientific approach to philosophy and logically analyzing metaphysical problems. Analytical philosophy thus became the dominant approach within the Anglo-American philosophical tradition.
• Development of the philosophy of language.
• He laid the foundations of emotivism by separating ethics from common philosophy. Russell stressed the importance of questioning the veracity of what one hears and trusting the facts, something particularly important within social coexistence. Thus, Russell was a notorious political activist and great defender of peace.

Discover here What is analytical philosophy.