Russell, Bertrand

Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

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The Fount Of Much Modern Criticism of Christianity
A Must. Do read it, please.
THINK ABOUT IT
Hardly Englightening
VERY GOOD BOOK

Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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ASIN: 0671203231

Book Description

Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself -- questions about man's place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous. These qualities make the essays included in this book perhaps the most graceful and moving presentation of the freethinker's position since the days of Hume and Voltaire.

"I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue," Russell declares in his Preface, and his reasoned opposition to any system or dogma which he feels may shackle man's mind runs through all the essays in this book, whether they were written as early as 1899 or as late as 1954.

The book has been edited, with Lord Russell's full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial "Bertrand Russell Case" of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared "unfit" to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York.

Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russell's views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read.

Customer Reviews:

The Fount Of Much Modern Criticism of Christianity.......2007-05-23

If you have read any of Richard Dawkins' or Sam Harris' works, you will recognize immediately, as did I, that essentially they have not progressed very far in the main from what Russell was saying at the turn of the 20th century.

Russell writes clearly and with wonderful wit. This book is easy to read, accessible at all levels and straight forward in its conclusions. I disagree with Russell on just about everything, but there is no denying the consistency of his thought nor his willingness to live consistently what that which he espouses.

His multiple marriages and numerous liaisons are absolutely convergent with his disapproval of any societal strictures against sexual freedom. He adamantly insists that all moral formulations only reflect the inherent desires of those who espouse them. This leads him to conclude that there is no absolute difference between the poet and the murderer and that it is illogical to build a statue to one and to consign the other to the realm of shame. To Russell, all human actions result from the combined causality of genetics and social conditioning and that we should no more look down upon one who is doing criminal things than we should look down upon a person who has the measles.

Like most radical liberals of his day Russell understood education as the realm of the Messiah. Education, under the guidance of enlightened thinkers such as himself, would radically alter and improve the human specie so that we could hope to live lives of love and freedom. Utopia beckons, we have only to embrace it rationally and pursue it energetically.

In all his brilliance Russell never comes to grips in these essays with his primary problem. He was totally lacking in grounds on which to criticize the rising stars of Hitler and Mussolini other than the fact that their methods and their conclusions differed from his own. He had no standard other than appeal to like sympathies in others to say that perhaps the manner and nature of those regimes was worse or better than his own. He cannot discover in the world of science why "what is" is either "what ought" or "what ought not" to be.

Read the book and discover the ultimate vacuity of a world view without external referrent.

A Must. Do read it, please........2007-04-24

Russell teaches to be atheist, a concept none can develop if left, unarmed since a boy, under the havy bombings of christian ideas.

THINK ABOUT IT.......2007-03-14

Isn't it interesting that Mr. Russell claims that all religions are shackles to the mind, but yet why is it that only Christians are attacked, even the title of this book is WHY I AM NOT A CHIRSTIAN, well if it's true that Mr., Russell believes this of all religions why is only Christianity attacked? Why is it that out of all the religious leaders in history of all the religions only Christ is made fun of, only Christ is repeatedly sought out to be disproved...Because HE IS THE TRUTH. The world and things of this world will never understand that. But lies will always attack the truth. Granted there are fanatics to every religion, but if you want to know the truth find a REAL Christian. They are rare to be found but there are still a few.

Hardly Englightening.......2007-01-06

The books' editors are quite proud of the fact that in 1940 Bertrand Russell was found by a court of law to be 'unfit' to teach philosophy. They tell you such on the outside cover. Naturally, I assume that anyone the 'establishment' finds unfit to teach would be worth hearing. I only got to page seven of this book before I figured out that the court was right; Russel isn't insightful, or progressive. He's just a demagogue. Likely, the only reason he's even notable is because he espoused a very unpopular notion in a time when espousing unpopular notions was particularly unpopular.

What is page 7? Start on page 6, where Russell begins with the intent to discredit the doctrine of "First Cause" as evidence of the existence of God. Cause and effect are pretty much universally understood; you drop a ball, the ball falls. The cause is you dropping the ball, the effect is that the ball fell. If you work backwards, you eventually get to a single cause for every effect. Philosophers and theologans since the days of Plato and Aristotle have labelled this first cause as God.

Russell's problem with this is summed up as follows. "If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God, so that there cannot be any validity in that argument. "There is no reason why the world could not have come into being without a cause; nor, on the other hand, is there any reason why it should not have always existed. There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our imagination. Therefore, perhaps, I need not waste any more time upon the argument about the First Cause."

This delightfully circular argument basically supposes that if God can exist without a cause, then all of creation can just as well exist without God having caused it. He then argues that it is only because humans are stupid that we even think there needs to be a cause at all for anything. With a flourish, he concludes that he no longer needs to dignify that line of thinking, and moves along. He does so without addressing the fact that he just argued that causality being either just as likely for creation with or without a god, or causality not even being necessary in the first place, that the existence of God is equally likely as the non-existence of a God.

It didn't get any better in the next few pages of that first essaay, nor did it get any better in the other essays in that book. Bertrands "poverty of imagination" is his own failing in as much as it might be that of anyone else. The undertone of all his writings in this book is a pedantic arrogance that does more to offend than to enlighten.

VERY GOOD BOOK.......2006-12-14

I enjoyed this book very much. Some of the scientific references are out dated, but science moves fast so that's to be expected. Why people in this day and time still believe in fairly times and mythical beings, I cannot understand. Great, highly recommended.

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The Conquest of Happiness
Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Liveright Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0871401622

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<B>"The books of Bertrand Russell are a modern substitute for the Bible."—Time</B><BR><BR>"The Conquest of Happiness, a primer of self-regeneration, is a most excellent book. This manual of systemized common sense, sane and forthright, should be read by every parent, teacher, minister and Congressman in the land."—Atlantic Monthly

The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell

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The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell
K. Blackwell
Manufacturer: TF-ROUTL
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Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0049200674

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"Contains a great deal of varied and interesting writing from Russell's first decade as an independent thinker the great themes of God and freewill, immortality and conscience are rehearsed with charm and penetration Russell shows an exuberant delight in ingenious reasoning, expressed in the fewest possible words and in the least encumbered way, that was to remain with him as a kind of trademark -- Anthony Quinton, The Times

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A History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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Binding: Paperback

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The Principles of Mathematics

ASIN: 0671201581

Book Description

Since its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject -- unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, co-author with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica.

Book Description

Bertrand Russell was born in 1872 and died in 1970. One of the most influential figures of the 20th century, he transformed philosophy and can lay claim to being one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He was a Nobel Prize winner for Literature and was imprisoned several times as a result of his pacifism. His views on religion, education, sex, politics and many other topics made him one of the most read and revered writers of the age. He also wrote this book, one of the most compelling and vivid autobiographies ever written.

Now available in a single paperback, this edition of Russell's Autobiography includes an introduction by scholar Michael Foot exploring the status of this classic nearly 30 years after the publication of its last volume.

The Varieties of Reference (Clarendon Paperbacks)

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This dude is haggard!
Basic Concepts in Varieties of Reference

The Varieties of Reference (Clarendon Paperbacks)
Gareth Evans
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 0198246862

Book Description

Gareth Evans, one of the most brilliant philosophers of his generation, died in 1980 at the age of thirty-four. He had been working for many years on a book about reference, but did not complete it before his death. The work was edited for publication by John McDowell, who contributes a Preface.

Customer Reviews:

This dude is haggard!.......2003-09-24

I was totaly blown away by the awsomness of this book. the way the guy says things makes you want to scream yeah go ahead! I'm not a expert on reference books or anything, but I think that by the way he writes the book it is just killin' to the reader!!!!!buy this book, light up a big blunt, and chill to the deepness.

Basic Concepts in Varieties of Reference.......2003-08-04

In Varieties of Reference (hereafter, Varieties), Evans sets out a modified Fregean theory of sense for singular terms in language, and their counterpart constituents in thoughts (singular thoughts). Russell's Principle (RP) is an initial formulation of what thinking about an object (grasping its sense) requires. The central thesis of Varieties is that RP applies to all cases of understanding singular reference. Evans distinguishes what counts as satisfying RP for different kinds of objects (e.g., numbers, colors, shapes, spatio-temporal objects). These are the fundamental grounds of difference for those kinds of objects. And there are multiple modes of satisfying RP: demonstrative identification, recognition-based identification, and information-based descriptions. Evans has chapters dedicated to demonstrative and recognition-based modes.

Varieties is dense and difficult material (in the early eighties, Hilary Putnam wrote a surprisingly negative review where he blasts Evans for writing a book that is overly technical; John McDowell wrote several letters responding to Putnam's criticism). But Varieties is packed with awesome thought and is deeply satisfying to read. Also enjoyable are Evans's odd examples, like the coughing sheep, the spinning steel balls, and the hands feeling velvet.

To grasp the motivation for Evans's theory, it is helpful to have some feeling for Dummett's theory of sense, and the attacks on sense made by proponents of the new theory of reference like Kripke. Evans criticizes these positions early in the book, but he also wants to salvage elements of both. Strawson's Individuals and Geach's Mental Acts are also a big influence on Varieties. For example, reading the first couple chapters of Individuals are very helpful for getting a general sense of what is going on when Evans talks about the "fundamental ground of difference" for spatio-temporal objects.

Some of the most important technical concepts in Varieties are the following:

1. Russell's Principle: "The principle is that a subject cannot make a judgment about something unless he knows which object his judgment is about.... In order to make Russell's Principle a substantial principle, I shall suppose that the knowledge which it requires is what might be called discriminating knowledge: the subject must have a capacity to distinguish the object of his judgment from all other things.... We have the idea of certain sufficient conditions for being able to discriminate an object from all other things: for example, when one can perceive it at the present time; when one can recognize it if presented with it; and when one knows distinguishing facts about it" (89).

2. The Generality Constraint: "It seems to me that there must be a sense in which thoughts are structured.... I should prefer to explain the sense in which thoughts are structured, not in terms of their being composed of several distinct elements, but in terms of their being a complex of the exercise of several distinct conceptual abilities.... Thus if a subject can be credited with the thought that a is F, then he must have the conceptual resources for entertaining the thought that a is G, for every property of being G of which he has a conception" (100-104).

3. Idea (capitalized): "I shall speak of the Ideas a subject has, of this or that particular object, on the model of the way we speak of the concepts a subject has, of this or that property". Combined with the Generality Constraint, this yields the notion that "An Idea of an object, then, is something which makes it possible for a subject to think of an object in a series of indefinitely many thoughts, in each of which he will be thinking of the object in the same way" (104).

4. Fundamental Ground of Difference: "An Idea of an object is part of a conception of a world of such objects, distinguished from one another in certain fundamental ways. For every kind of object, there is a general answer to the question, `What makes it the case that there are two objects of this kind rather than one (or three rather than two)?' For example, we may say that shades of color are distinguished from one another by their phenomenal properties, that shapes are distinguished from one another by their geometrical properties, that sets are differentiated from one another by their possessing different members, that numbers are differentiated from one another by their position in an infinite ordering, and that chess positions are distinguished from one another by the positions of pieces upon the board" (106-107).

5. The Fundamental Ground of Difference for Spatio-Temporal Objects: "In the case of temporal objects-objects which exist in time and which change-we must replace the absolute notion of what differentiates an object from others with the notion of what differentiates an object from others at a time.... The answer to the question what differentiates a statue from every other thing at a time is given by citing (i) the position which it occupies at that time and (ii) the fact that it is a statue" (107). The fundamental ground of difference is that which knowledge of suffices to distinguish an object from all other objects (of its kind), that is, knowledge of which satisfies Russell's Principle.

6. Fundamental Idea: "Let us say that one has a fundamental Idea of an object if one thinks of it as the possessor of the fundamental ground of difference which it in fact possesses" (107).

7. Information-based Thought: "An [information-based thought] is governed by a conception of its object which is the result neither of fancy...nor of linguistic stipulation...but rather is the result of a belief about how the world is which the subject has because he has received information (or misinformation) from the object" (121). Information is meant to capture our causal involvement with the world around us.

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Great Introduction

Amazing book

The Problems of Philosophy

A thought-provoking book

Good introduction to certain kinds of philosophical problems

The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 019511552X

Book Description

Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest logicians since Aristotle, and one of the most important philosophers of the past two hundred years. As we approach the 125th anniversary of the Nobel laureate's birth, his works continue to spark debate, resounding with unmatched timeliness and power. The Problems of Philosophy, one of the most popular works in Russell's prolific collection of writings, has become core reading in philosophy. Clear and accessible, this little book is an intelligible and stimulating guide to those problems of philosophy which often mistakenly lead to its status as too lofty and abstruse for the lay mind. Focusing on problems he believes will provoke positive and constructive discussion, Russell concentrates on knowledge rather than metaphysics, steering the reader through his famous 1910 distinction between "knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description," and introducing important theories of Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Hume, Locke, Plato, and others to lay the foundation for philosophical inquiry by general readers and scholars alike. With a new introduction by John Perry, this valuable work is a perfect introduction to the field and will continue to stimulate philosophical discussion as it has done for nearly forty years.

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IN this chapter we have to ask ourselves whether, in any sense at all, there is such a thing as matter. Is there a table which has a certain intrinsic nature, and continues to exist when I am not looking, or is the table merely a product of my imagination, a dream-table in a very prolonged dream? This question is of the greatest importance.

Customer Reviews:

Great Introduction.......2006-03-09

This book is a model of exposition, covering an amazing amount of ground in just over 150 pages - and the excellent writing makes it seem even shorter than that. It is not really a standard introduction to all of philosophy, however, since it deals mainly with questions of epistemology. But as an introduction to that branch of philosophy, it is definitely one of the best. Among other things, it includes Russell's famous chapter "On Induction", criticisms of idealism, of Kant, and (perhaps surprisingly) of empiricism, and a defense of the correspondence theory of truth.

The five star rating does not mean that I agree with everything in it, however. Russell himself came to disagree with much of what he said in this book (e.g., with respect to his views on universals). But in spite of being somewhat dated, it is definitely worthwhile, especially for the beginning student.

Amazing book.......2006-01-09

Russell does an amazing job of dissecting philosophy and getting to squishy center and practical basis that let's us attempt to understand the world. It's very easy to read and enjoyable. And despite being written in 1912, it reads like it was written yesterday (other then a few anachronisms, here and there).

The only downside is that, obviously, it doesn't say much about philosophical developments in the 20th century.

Still, it's a fantastic and easy to understand book, and everyone who can read should read it.

The Problems of Philosophy.......2005-08-30

This book is compulsory reading to anyone studying Philosphy, it is written in such a style as to take away the mysteke normally associated with the subject. Anyone can read this book and gain an understanding.
Dr. Wallace Devlin, Ph.D

A thought-provoking book.......2005-04-03

One of my favorite books by Russell! A very straight-forward introduction to philosophical issues as Russell saw them.

Good introduction to certain kinds of philosophical problems.......2005-03-22

I remember reading this little book over and over again in order to understand what philosophers truly think about. I am not sure that I understand most of it then, and I am sure that I do not remember most of it now. But I know one of the topics was the 'reality' or non- reality of what the visible world gives. Appearance and reality. Another topic if I remember rightly is the mind-body problem. And Russell I believe here takes on the Descartian cogito and tells us that it does not mean that Descartes has proved that there is an 'I thinking' but rather only that there is ' thinking'. Russell in this seems to be something like a very strange kind of Buddhist. In any case it is these hard problems of epistemology that are at the center of this small work.
The other kinds of big problems, moral and aesthetic, religious also which are at the heart of a good share of human experience are perhaps not quantifiable enough for Russell's kind of philosophical consideration here. The man that tried to reduce all of mathematics to logic did take on these other kinds of more 'human ' questions in other works though not I might say to the satisfaction of many of us old religious believers.
This little book is however a clear and challenging introduction to major epistemological questions.

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"Religion and Science" as opposed to "Religion vs. Science"
Comments on 2 CD Audio...
Two Titans' Battle is Reviewed by Capable Hands
Religion and Science
A must read for the religious and nonreligious alike

Religion and Science
Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 0195115511

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In this timely work, Russell, philosopher, agnostic, mathematician, and renowned peace advocate, offers a brief yet insightful study of the conflicts between science and traditional religion during the last four centuries. Examining accounts in which scientific advances clashed with Christian doctrine or biblical interpretations of the day, from Galileo and the Copernican Revolution, to the medical breakthroughs of anesthesia and inoculation, Russell points to the constant upheaval and reevaluation of our systems of belief throughout history. In turn, he identifies where similar debates between modern science and the Church still exist today. Michael Ruse's new introduction brings these conflicts between science and theology up to date, focusing on issues arising after World War II. This classic is sure to interest all readers of philosophy and religion, as well as those interested in Russell's thought and writings.

Customer Reviews:

"Religion and Science" as opposed to "Religion vs. Science".......2006-04-02

This book is the culmination of lengthy and grueling contemplations. It really reveals the author's depth of knowledge.

Religion and science are two major aspects of life. Religion (or to worship something more superior and powerful) has been around since the day humankind was created. In every epoch, in every land, human beings felt a need to believe in something which they can seek refuge when they are in need of protection, relief, solace and peace of mind. Whether you believe in a religion or not, it plays, perhaps, the biggest role in our lives everyday. Science, on the other hand, is the grand sum of all the endeavors that mankind expended in search of unraveling the mysteries of the universe.

In my opinion, the author could have named the book "Christianity and Science" as well, because he refers to other religions very briefly. I am sure he was not unaware of them, but to name a book with such a generic name, it entails a comprehensive treatise of all major religions. Although there are many common denominators among them, there are as well many stark contrasts. Furthermore, the historical development of major religions exhibit different features, distinct approaches and methodologies.

Having been raised in a Christian environment, it is not unusual for the author to bring forth such a book. At that time, the Islamic civilization was (and still is) in a state of decline and inertia. The concept of "religion and science" should be discussed in a forum with participants from all major religions. Hence, one will be able to produce a comprehensive treatise.

As for this book specifically, the chapter "Demonology and Medicine" is especially striking and includes very powerful stories. The outstanding difference between today's Western civilization and the Medieval Europe is characterized very successfully. In the latter chapters, the evolution of scientific thought in West is discussed with very illustrative examples. The notion of "relativity" in the sense that every human being perceives the Universe from a different angle with different assumptions and premises is argued and scrutinized very logically, effectively. This book really makes you ponder over the Universe in which you live, from many perspectives, with the ideas that shape it.

Personally, science and religions are not archnemeses. They are very powerful tools, which go parallel to each other, to perceive and comprehend the secrets of life.

Overall, a very powerful book for those who are not afraid of thinking!

Comments on 2 CD Audio... .......2005-02-24

Hard to believe that this Book (here in CD Audio Format) was written was back in 1932! Most of it is as current and relevent now as then. The CD is broken down in to several parts, including RELIGION AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD,RELIGION AND DISEASE,RELIGION AND EVOLUTION, RELIGION AND MYSTICISM. Always very polite and a bit understated, the CD begins commenting on Copernicus and Galileo, scientists contradicting the dogma of their times. Then onto Church responses to disease including 1600's Plagues, and Smallpox. The blame was put on demons and devils, not germs aor viruses. His comments on the Smallpox outbreak in 1880's Montreal are worth the price of the CD. Evolution and biology are discussed, and Russll has some interesting thoughts on mysticism. Very worthwhile in this CD format!

Two Titans' Battle is Reviewed by Capable Hands.......2004-04-27

Quick overview of the centuries long conflict between religion and science. Russell firmly believes that religion has stood in the natural path of science on multiple fronts. Every time religion has been "pushed aside" by science (sometimes violently), man has made tremendous progressive strides. This includes discovering that blood flows through the body and the failure to find the soul within the body, amongst dozens of other examples.

The book's age takes very little away from the book. Russell even acknowledges that the fields of science he speaks about are still progressing and his words about them will one day be less poignant.

Fascinating and quick, I read "S&R" after "The Problems of Philosophy" and "The Conquest of Happiness," but before "Why I Am Not a Christian."

Religion and Science.......2003-02-06

I really enjoyed this book. Basically this is a history book of science and religion and how they have interacted over the history of mankind. Bertrand explains how almost every great scientific finding or revolution is oppressed ...by religion in some way or another. Copernicus, Newton, Galileo, Darwin, Vesalius, Harvey, Simpson, and many other distinguished scholars have all been at least fearful of the reactions of the churches, but also of the general population. Bertrand also goes into detail how the idea of ?soul? has changed through time: ?We not only react to external objects, but we know that we react. The stone, we think, does not know it reacts, but if it does it has ?consciousness.? Here also, on analysis, the difference will be found to be one of degree.? I rate this book with five out of five stars; I enjoyed it and still do enjoy it thoroughly.

A must read for the religious and nonreligious alike.......1998-07-28

Russell's "Religion and Science" explores, in a thoughtful and intelligent fashion, essentially the dark side of religion and its historical resistance (to say the least) to scientific discovery. This is clearly a must read for any rational thinking human.

Principia Mathematica to *56 (Cambridge Mathematical Library)

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Principia Mathematica to *56 (Cambridge Mathematical Library)
Alfred North Whitehead , and Bertrand Russell
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521626064

Amazon.com

Could it be true that Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica is the most influential book written in the 20th century? Ask any mathematician or philosopher--or anyone who understands the impact these fields have had on modern thinking--and you'll get a short answer: yes. Their goal, to set mathematics on a firm logical foundation, was revolutionary, and their tools and rigor continue to influence modern professionals. Using Peano's symbolic logic, they formalized axioms and produced theorems (including the famous "1 + 1 = 2") in orderings, continuous functions, and other areas of mathematics.

Although the Principia is far from comprehensive, Whitehead and Russell's method and program captivate their readers. The audacity to hope to formalize all of mathematics logically was inspirational and helped to give great boosts to math and logical philosophy. Though Gödel proved in 1931 that any such program is doomed to incompleteness, the tools found in and developed from the three volumes helped build the atomic bomb and the Internet. It may not be summer vacation reading (for most), but Principia Mathematica will reward the dedicated student with a deeper understanding of how we got here. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

The great three-volume Principia Mathematica (CUP 1927) is deservedly the most famous work ever written on the foundations of mathematics. Its aim is to deduce all the fundamental propositions of logic and mathematics from a small number of logical premises and primitive ideas, establishing that mathematics is a development of logic. This abridged text of Volume I contains the material that is most relevant to an introductory study of logic and the philosophy of mathematics (more advanced students will of course wish to refer to the complete edition). It contains the whole of the preliminary sections (which present the authors' justification of the philosophical standpoint adopted at the outset of their work); the whole of Part I (in which the logical properties of propositions, propositional functions, classes and relations are established); section A of Part II (dealing with unit classes and couples); and Appendices A and C (which give further developments of the argument on the theory of deduction and truth functions).

Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision

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Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision
Arnold Reisman
Manufacturer: New Academia Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0977790886

Book Description

This book chronicles the story of a group of individuals caught at a crossroads and targeted in the cross fires of history. In 1933 events in their native Germanic lands presented them with a "Hobson's choice"-leave if you can or die! Their lives were saved because Turkey was discarding the society and culture inherited from the Ottomans' derelict and shattered empire while recognizing and addressing the need to modernize its society, culture, way of living, and system of higher education. Using a collection of third-party archival documents, cotemporaneous family and collegial correspondence, memoirs, oral histories, photos, and other surviving evidence Arnold Reisman documents the fears, the courage, the heartaches, and the determination of these brilliant people as well as their contributions to shifting established paradigms in several fields of knowledge. He also speculates about Turkey's inabilities to fully capitalize on these emigres' legacy. The book is intended for lay readers interested in history of the 20th Century, history of science, history of Turkey, the Holocaust, and in a case study of post-Islamic national development. "This book adds to our knowledge of an important aspect of the Holocaust, and of the behavior of Nation States in the modern world of woe and grief." - Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. He is the author of The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. "This book should be on the 'must-read' list of books about World War II and the years preceding it." - Dr. Israel Hanukoglu, Former Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel. Currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, College of Judea and Samaria, Ariel, Israel. "This book involves five major topics: science, history, politics, economics, and the arts. It is the earliest comprehensive essay in the English language, on the German émigrés who, while taking refuge in Turkey after 1933, contributed to the modernization of its higher education, and to the implementation of research activities and social reforms." - Prof. Dr. Feza Günergun, Chair for History of Science, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University, Beyazit-Istanbul, Turkey.

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