Monday, October 6, 2014

Chapter 23 - Strange Footprints: Part 5 - Bertrand Russell

Korzybski: A Biography (Free Online Edition)
Copyright © 2014 (2011) by Bruce I. Kodish 
All rights reserved. Copyright material may be quoted verbatim without need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder, provided that attribution is clearly given and that the material quoted is reasonably brief in extent.

In Whyte’s words,
[Bertrand] Russell, with his supreme passion for logical clarity,...sought to reduce knowledge to the minimum elements of which one could be reasonably certain, the atomic or individual facts whose significance was as clear as 2 plus 2—no, much clearer than that, for Russell demanded to know what 2 and plus really meant, and to be able to express both in a language beyond vagueness and dispute. ...[I]n his drive for rational clarity, objective knowledge, and emancipation from prejudice and intolerance, Russell provides an example which will always be honored by enlightened men, though the world pays only lip service to these virtues. (8) 
Bertrand Russell (circa 1910),
From Russell's Wisdom of The West
In letters both to Russell and to others over many years, Korzybski expressed a similar view of Russell and his work. In 1921-22, Alfred was mining theoretical gems from Russell’s other books besides the Principia, in particular Principles of Mathematics and Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. Those who are familiar with Korzybski’s work will probably recognize these gems, as I briefly review them below.


Notes 
You may download a pdf of all of the book's reference notes (including a note on primary source material and abbreviations used) from the link labeled Notes on the Contents page. The pdf of the Bibliography, linked on the Contents page contains full information on referenced books and articles. 
8. L. L. Whyte 1951, p. 46. 


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