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Project Gutenberg's The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell |
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with |
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or |
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included |
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org |
Title: The Problems of Philosophy |
Author: Bertrand Russell |
Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5827] |
Posting Date: May 2, 2009 |
Language: English |
Character set encoding: ASCII |
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY *** |
Produced by Gordon Keener |
THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY |
By Bertrand Russell |
PREFACE |
In the following pages I have confined myself in the main to those |
problems of philosophy in regard to which I thought it possible to say |
something positive and constructive, since merely negative criticism |
seemed out of place. For this reason, theory of knowledge occupies a |
larger space than metaphysics in the present volume, and some topics |
much discussed by philosophers are treated very briefly, if at all. |
I have derived valuable assistance from unpublished writings of G. E. |
Moore and J. M. Keynes: from the former, as regards the relations |
of sense-data to physical objects, and from the latter as regards |
probability and induction. I have also profited greatly by the |
criticisms and suggestions of Professor Gilbert Murray. |
1912 |
CHAPTER I. APPEARANCE AND REALITY |
Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no |
reasonable man could doubt it? This question, which at first sight might |
not seem difficult, is really one of the most difficult that can |
be asked. When we have realized the obstacles in the way of a |
straightforward and confident answer, we shall be well launched on the |
study of philosophy--for philosophy is merely the attempt to answer |
such ultimate questions, not carelessly and dogmatically, as we do in |
ordinary life and even in the sciences, but critically, after exploring |
all that makes such questions puzzling, and after realizing all the |
vagueness and confusion that underlie our ordinary ideas. |
In daily life, we assume as certain many things which, on a closer |
scrutiny, are found to be so full of apparent contradictions that only a |
great amount of thought enables us to know what it is that we really may |
believe. In the search for certainty, it is natural to begin with our |
present experiences, and in some sense, no doubt, knowledge is to be |
derived from them. But any statement as to what it is that our immediate |
experiences make us know is very likely to be wrong. It seems to me that |
I am now sitting in a chair, at a table of a certain shape, on which I |
see sheets of paper with writing or print. By turning my head I see out |
of the window buildings and clouds and the sun. I believe that the sun |
is about ninety-three million miles from the earth; that it is a hot |
globe many times bigger than the earth; that, owing to the earth's |
rotation, it rises every morning, and will continue to do so for an |
indefinite time in the future. I believe that, if any other normal |
person comes into my room, he will see the same chairs and tables and |
books and papers as I see, and that the table which I see is the same as |
the table which I feel pressing against my arm. All this seems to be |
so evident as to be hardly worth stating, except in answer to a man who |
doubts whether I know anything. Yet all this may be reasonably doubted, |
and all of it requires much careful discussion before we can be sure |
that we have stated it in a form that is wholly true. |
To make our difficulties plain, let us concentrate attention on the |
table. To the eye it is oblong, brown and shiny, to the touch it is |
smooth and cool and hard; when I tap it, it gives out a wooden sound. |
Any one else who sees and feels and hears the table will agree with this |
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