Russell Wahl

Propositions and Facts in the Early Philosophy of Bertrand Russell (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

It has been said that Bertrand Russell adopted at some time or other during his life every philosophical point of view that has ever been held by anyone. While this is without doubt an overstatement, it is certainly true that he held dramatically differing views on propositions and propositional functions during the years of this study 1900-1920. During this time Russell moved from a view that propositions were among the objects in the world to the view that "propositions are nothing" and oscillated back and forth on the subject of the "separableness" of propositional functions. The sharp changes in these positions are often ignored by current authors, especially those interested in the logical atomism of 1918. This is regrettable, since Russell concentrated a lot of effort on his difficulties with propositions and propositional functions and propositions played a central role in his philosophy and many of his insights were a result of work he did on propositions. Russell's changing positions on propositions and propositional functions were not arbitrary: they were a consequence of some of the most concentrated philosophical thinking he ever did, and fit in well with many of his philosophical views. These problems with propositions and propositional functions have not been adequately studied. Indeed, in a recent work on Russell they were by and large ignored.

This book discusses Russell's difficulties with the notions of proposition, propositional function, and (somewhat later) fact, particularly the role of propositions in Russell's philosophy and in Russell's reasons for thinking propositions unnecessary, and, in fact, an unwelcome addition to ontology.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Society for Philosophy & Culture
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. August 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781301142330
• Artikelnr.: 72365111

Autorenporträt

I began my career working primarily in the history of analytic philosophy and logic. I was particularly interested in the theory of logic found in Russell's and Wittgenstein's work. I am still working in this area, but for the last twenty years I have done more of my research in early modern philosophy, particularly the rationalists of the seventeenth century. Mostly I have worked on the theories of ideas, perception and causation developed in this period. While my research has been primarily in the history of these areas, I am interested in contemporary theories in all these areas as well.

My main teaching areas are logic, philosophy of science, and early modern philosophy. In the past I frequently taught epistemology and twentieth-century philosophy and I hope to be able to do that again. Most of my teaching at Idaho State has been in introductory courses. In these courses we often find students who have never had any exposure to philosophy and are then quite taken by the richness of the field and the benefits that come with careful thinking.

I did my graduate work at Indiana University under Romane Clark. Nino Cocchiarella, Mike Dunn and Alberto Coffa were also members of my committee and people from which I learned a great deal. I taught at Wabash College in Indiana for five years before coming to Idaho State University in 1985. Since 1995 I have been director of the Philosophy Program here