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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 August 2009
My lectures on German Socialism were published in 1896. This was my first book, but I took no great interest in it, as I had determined to devote myself to mathematical philosophy.
As Russell here indicates, the publication of German Social Democracy marked the end of a period of indecision and the beginning of the work which culminated in Principia Mathematica some fourteen years later. The book on German Socialism originated in a visit Russell made with his wife to Berlin in the spring of 1895, during which he spent time considering his future. Having rejected the family profession of politics, he had thoughts of becoming an economist and was thus undecided as to whether he would write on mathematics or economics for his Fellowship Dissertation. Indeed, Russell was beset by the sheer variety of his intellectual ambitions, although his autobiographical account claims that Hegelianism gave coherence to his aspirations:
I remember a cold, bright day in early spring when I walked by myself in the Tiergarten, and made projects of future work. I thought that I would write one series of books on the philosophy of the sciences from pure mathematics to physiology, and another series of books on social questions. I hoped that the two series might ultimately meet in a synthesis at once scientific and practical. My scheme was largely inspired by Hegelian ideas.
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