Bertrand Russell in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series)
Like Strathern himself, Bertrand Russell was a popularizer of philosophy, and hisHistory of Western Philosophy (1945) is one of the best one-volume works on it. Russell's stature as a philosopher, however, comes from his project to reduce mathematics to a logically coherent system without resting it on axioms. Alas, Kurt Godel exposed this effort as a chimera, but Russell's thought about epistemology fared better. Strathern condenses Russell's heavy thinking into a few paragraphs, leavening it with highlights of his life, such as the turmoil arising from his logician's approach to emotional and social life, which led him to contemplate suicide, conduct assignations galore, and champion liberal causes and pacifism.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.