I Like Bertrand Russell

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British-born Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)—philosopher, logician, and essayist—is best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. Along with Gottlob Frege and G.E. Moore, Russell is credited as a founder of modern analytic philosophy, a philosophical approach that emphasizes the use of logical analysis to solve philosophical problems. Russell focused on the study of linguistics, language, and meaning, where the core method was to break down complex ideas and concepts into their constituent parts through logical analysis. Russell’s contributions to logic, linguistics, philosophy, and epistemology earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.

Russell was also known to be a social reformer; he campaigned for peace during WWI. As a result of his anti-war campaigning, Russell was let go from his professorship at Trinity College, Cambridge and became a freelance journalist and writer. He eventually returned to Trinity College in 1944 and lectured on “Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits” in 1948, his last major philosophical written contribution. He came back to campaigning for peace in the 1950s with the Vietnam War, where he took place in mass demonstrations and was ultimately imprisoned in 1961 due to “inciting young people to civil disobedience.”

Russell is, perhaps, now better known for his anti-war work and campaigning than his contributions to philosophy and mathematics.