Problems of Philosophy

Key Facts

full title  ·  The Problems of Philosophy

author  ·  Bertrand Russell

lifetime of the author  ·  1872–1970

nationality of the author  ·  Born and died in Wales, United Kingdom

philosophical movement  ·  Russell's work was an early cornerstone of analytic philosophy, which popularized an explicit "analysis" of philosophical problems.

philosophical genre  ·  An introduction to problems of metaphysics and epistemology, which also posits its own positive philosophic program.

language  ·  English

time and place written  ·  Written in 1910–1912, while Russell was a Fellow at Trinity College.

date of first publication  ·  1912

first publisher  ·  Home University Library

speaker in  ·  First person point of view

other philosophers referenced and discussed in this work  ·  Rene Descartes, Bishop Berkeley, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel

essential metaphysical distinction  ·  This book builds on Russell's innovative idea of sense-data as the primary fact of experience, from which we logically construct other ideas about knowledge.

school of philosophy originated  ·  Analytic philosophy originated with Russell

russell's primary philosophical interests  ·  Logic, mathematics, and epistemology

intellectual tradition in which russell was trained, against which he later revolted  ·  British idealism

logical theory that allowed russell to moderate his realist views  ·  Theory of Descriptions

prestigious award that russell earned for his groundbreaking work on logic  ·  The Nobel Prize for Literature, for his work Principia Mathematica

institution where russell studied and lectured  ·  Trinity College, Cambridge University

philosophical method after which russell patterns his own method of enquiry  ·  Descartes' radical doubt