Intro
Bertrand Russell was a British polymath, philosopher, mathematician, logician, and writer. He was a founding figure of analytic philosophy, the dominant branch of Western philosophy, and of logicism, which is the view that mathematics could be reduced to pure logic. However, apart from his career in academia, Russell was also a vocal political activist and was even imprisoned during World War I for his anti-war and anti-conscription campaigning.1
Together with the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, Russell wrote Principia Mathematica, considered one of the most influential books on logic ever written.8 However, he is probably best remembered for the dozens of books he wrote for popular audiences, which cover topics such as religion and ethics, as well as social issues including free trade and women’s suffrage.9 His work was thoroughly imbued with skepticism: he was ahead of his time in his appreciation of what we now would refer to as cognitive biases and unconscious prejudice. His critical examinations of societal institutions (including the church) often landed him in hot water, but this never deterred him from speaking his mind.
As passionate as he was about mathematics and technical philosophy, Russell’s chief concern in life was to solve problems of human suffering. His use of critical thinking and logic to dig into the many problems ailing the world has touched readers on a personal level as well as an intellectual one.
“When you allow yourself to think inexactly, your prejudices, your bias, your self-interest comes in in ways you don’t notice, and you do bad things without knowing that you’re doing them. Self-deception is very easy.” — Bertrand Russell, interviewed by Romney Wheeler, 1952
