Bertrand Arthur William Russell was a British philosopher, historian and logician. Along with G.Frege and L.Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell is considered to be one of the founders of analytical philosophy. Being an agnostic, Russell concentrated his interests in such spheres as logics, philosophy of mathematics, ethics and epistemology. Russell was deeply involved in discourse on political issues of his times, namely related to World wars, nuclear disarmament and Vietnam War. The fact that in terms of his research career Russell has explored almost all major areas of philosophy was reflected in his 1912 book “The Problems of Philosophy”.
“The Problems of Philosophy” is a comprehensive attempt to design a guide to the most controversial issues of philosophy, which are likely to become triggers for active and fruitful discussion, regardless of time, when the book is being read. . In the preface to the book Russell explains the rationale behind his choice of problems to be covered, saying that he chose the ones, which can be discussed in positive and constructive manner (Russell,1). In his reflections on these issues the author compares and contrasts ideas of a wide range of philosophers, including such classicists as Aristotle, Rene Descartes and John Locke etc. Lots of issues, which the book dwells on, regard theory of knowledge, e.g. the correlation between appearance and reality, knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description, as well as our knowledge of general principles and possibility of a priori knowledge. Theory of knowledge-related topics are chosen not only due to the fact that they are associated with lots of unsolved issues, but because people tend to be interested in knowing more about knowledge. Generally speaking, people seek to get to know more about the theory of knowledge as the problem of knowledge is one of philosophical problems, which can be confidently considered to concern all the people. Continuing the debate on knowledge, Russell also discusses the question of what we mean by truth and falsehood, and how we can potentially know what is true and what is false (Russell,138). In this regard the author distinguished between the notions of knowledge and so-called “true belief”.
In “The Problems of Philosophy” Russell also pays significant attention to the matter theory, observing issues, related to the existence and nature of matter. Strong logics background of the author allows him to make new unexpected conclusions, while exploring classical theories of matter. The limit to which we can trust the data we get from our organs of sense is one of central topics, which creates interconnection between the chapters, dedicated to theory of knowledge and matter. Apart from discussing matter, Russell also dedicates significant attention to exploring the nature and essence of ideas.
Two last chapters of the book explore the limits of philosophical knowledge and the value of philosophy. While reflecting on the nature of philosophical knowledge, Russell is quite critical, claiming that vast majority of great ambitious attempts of metaphysicians represent the attempt to prove the fact that some features of the world are self-contradictory and, therefore, cannot be real (Russell,154). Discussing the value of philosophy, Russell comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to study philosophy not for the sake of getting definitive answers to its questions, but rather for the sake of questions themselves.
Using Russell’s own vision of philosophy, I can claim that “The Problems of Philosophy” is of significant philosophical value due to the fact that it contains variety of well-designed questions.
Works cited
Russell, B. The problems of philosophy. Los Angeles: IndoEuropean Publishing: Los Angeles., 2010. Print
