Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970), was a British philosopher and mathematician. Russell ranks among the greatest philosophers of the 1900’s. He has also been called the most important logician (expert in logic) since the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Russell made his most important contributions in formal logic and the theory of knowledge. However, his influence extends far beyond these fields. Russell developed a prose style of extraordinary clarity, wit, and passion. He received the 1950 Nobel Prize for literature.
Russell became an influential and controversial figure on social, political, and educational issues. He was an outspoken pacifist and advocated extremely liberal attitudes toward sex, marriage, and methods of education. Russell was a critic of World War I (1914-1918). He was imprisoned in 1918 for statements considered harmful to British-American relations, and again in 1961 for “incitement to civil disobedience” in a campaign for nuclear disarmament.
Russell made his major contributions to philosophy and mathematics in the early 1900’s. He wanted to derive all of mathematics from logic, thus putting it on a sure foundation. Russell collaborated with the English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead on the monumental three-volume Principia Mathematica (1910-1913). This work attempts to show that all pure mathematics follows from premises that are strictly logical and uses only those concepts that can be defined in purely logical terms. Although Russell’s ideas have been refined and corrected by later mathematicians, all modern work in logic and the foundations of mathematics begins with his ideas.
Russell made important contributions to the history of philosophy in such books as A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz (1900) and A History of Western Philosophy (1945). He expressed his social and political ideas in a number of works, including German Social Democracy (1896), Roads to Freedom (1918), Power (1938), and Authority and the Individual (1949). Russell also influenced morality and education in essays and such books as Why I Am Not a Christian (1927), Marriage and Morals (1929), and The Conquest of Happiness (1930). Russell wrote many accounts of his life, including a three-volume autobiography (1967 to 1969).
Russell was born on May 18, 1872, near Trellek, Wales, north of Chepstow. His full name was Bertrand Arthur William Russell. He was a member of an old and noble family. In 1931, he inherited the family title and became Earl Russell. Russell died on Feb. 2, 1970. See also Russell family.
