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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

Nicholas Griffin
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Ontario
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Summary

It is difficult to over-estimate the extent to which Russell's thought dominated twentieth century analytic philosophy: virtually every strand in its development either originated with him or was transformed by being transmitted through him. Analytic philosophy itself owes its existence more to Russell than to any other philosopher. He was not, of course, its only originator (Frege and Moore, must be acknowledged as well), but he contributed more across its central areas (logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics) than any other single philosopher, and he was certainly its most energetic propagandist. Moreover, as Pigden forcefully argues in his essay in this volume, even in areas such as ethics, where Russell's work has often been thought to be shallow and derivative, Russell has been the source of a number of innovations which might have made the reputation of a lesser philosopher. With Frege and Peano, Russell created modern formal logic and, much more than they, was responsible for bringing it to the attention of philosophers and demonstrating its usefulness in philosophical applications. His work had a profound influence on Carnap and the logical positivists, on Quine, on A.J. Ayer, and in diverse ways on Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus [1922] was an attempt (ultimately unsustainable) to push to the limit an approach to language which had been suggested, though not actually embraced, by Russell. Wittgenstein's later philosophy was an attempt to make good the defects of the Tractatus by pushing equally far in the opposite direction. The ordinary language philosophers of the middle of the century also reacted strongly against Russell; by the same token, their work would have been inconceivable without him.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Nicholas Griffin, McMaster University, Ontario
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Bertrand Russell
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521631785.001
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Nicholas Griffin, McMaster University, Ontario
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Bertrand Russell
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521631785.001
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Nicholas Griffin, McMaster University, Ontario
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Bertrand Russell
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521631785.001
Available formats
×