
17
Philosophy Speaker Series: James Connelly
By McMaster Philosophy Department
Free Lecture
Overview

McMaster Philosophy Department Speaker Series Welcomes:
James Connelly
(Visiting Russell Scholar from Trent University)
“Wittgenstein and Russell’s 1913 Theory of Knowledge”
Abstract
In this project, I explore ways that Wittgenstein’s thinking was influenced by his interchanges with Russell during the formative period of 1911-14. Specific emphasis is placed on ideas articulated in Russell’s 1913 Theory of Knowledge manuscript, and then later developed by Wittgenstein either by way of confluence or critical reaction. While such points of contact are numerous, and include remarks on the nature of analysis, logical form, logical necessity and self-evidence, in the interest of time I will confine this talk to three interrelated topics, namely Occam’s razor, solipsism, as well as proper names. A unifying theme among these topics is that each highlight ways in which Wittgenstein critically appropriated Russell’s epistemological ideas in accordance with his own distinctive methods of logico-linguistic analysis. Whereas Russell sees analysis as crucial to grounding knowledge as well as resolving authentic epistemological problems, Wittgenstein sees analysis as a means of revealing conditions of sense and thereby dissolving philosophical pseudo-problems.
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- Bertrand Russell Research Centre (BRRC)