Bertrand Russell: from Neo-Idealism to Mathematical Logic

Caterina Genna

doi:10.13135/2704-8195/9219

Caterina Genna University of Palermo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1312-5895

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13135/2704-8195/9219

Keywords: mathematical logic, neo-idealism, neo-positivism, notion of denoting, theory of classes

Abstract

This essay is dedicated to the transition from neo-idealism to neo- positivism at Trinity College Cambridge at the beginning of 20th century. In 1903 George Edward Moore’s The Refutation of Idealism and Bertrand Russell’s The Principles of Mathematics marked the birth of mathematical logic. Especially Russell’s The Principles of Mathematics contain the theory of classes and the notion of denoting for the development of neo-positivism, then logical empiricism in the European continent. The objective of the article consists of underline the central position of neo-positivism in the twentieth-century philosophy. Indeed neo- positivism of Trinity College Cambridge has to be linked to the logical empiricism of the Vienna Circle, of the Berlin Circle and of the Lvov-Warsaw School. In that sense, the history of contemporary thought can be interpreted by the duality idealism/anti-idealism.

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Author Biography

Caterina Genna, University of Palermo

Caterina Genna is an Associate Professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Palermo and belongs to the Department of “Scienze Psicologiche, Pedagogiche dell’Esercizio Fisico e della Formazione.” She is the coeditor of the “Filosofi Italiani Contemporanei” series published by Le Lettere and of the “Collana di Filosofia Italiana” published by FrancoAngeli; she is also a member of the scientific committee of the “La piega” series published by New Digital Frontiers. She is a member of the teaching and examining body of the PhD in “Health Promotion and Cognitive Sciences.” In her research Caterina Genna has paid particular attention to contemporary Italian philosophy, in relation with the philosophy that has developed in the broad context of European and international culture. Her research has concerned authors who characterized the philosophy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, underlining the clash between idealism and anti-idealism and the dichotomous and dialectical relationship between humanistic culture and scientific culture. Among her most recent publications, mention should be made of the monograph Federigo Enriques matematico e filosofo, as well as various essays that have appeared in journals and collective volumes.

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