An Outline of Philosophy

AN OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY By Bertrand Russell. Originally published in 1927. Contents include: CHAP, I. PHILOSOPHIC DOUBTS ..... i PART I MAN FROM WITHOUT II. MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT . . 19 III. THE PROCESS OF LEARNING IN ANIMALS AND INFANTS ...... 32 IV. LANGUAGE . . . . . .46 V. PERCEPTION OBJECTIVELY REGARDED . . 61 VI. MEMORY OBJECTIVELY REGARDED . . 73 VII. INFERENCE AS A HABIT . , . VIII. KNOWLEDGE BEHAVIOURISTICALLY CONSIDERED . 91 PART II THE PHYSICAL WORLD IX. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM . . .103 X. RELATIVITY . . . . . - 113 XI. CAUSAL LAWS IN PHYSICS . . . .120 XII. PHYSICS AND PERCEPTION . . . .129 XIII. PHYSICAL AND PERCEPTUAL SPACE . . . 143 XIV. PERCEPTION AND PHYSICAL CAUSAL LAWS . .150 XV, THE NATURE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF PHYSICS . 157 PART III MAN FROM WITHIN XVI. SELF-OBSERVATION . . . . .169 XVII. IMAGES ....... 184 VI AN OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY XVIII. IMAGINATION AND MEMORY . XIX. THE INTROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF PERCEPTION XX, CONSCIOUSNESS XXI. EMOTION, DESIRE, AND WILL XXII. ETHICS ...... PART IV THE UNIVERSE XXIII. SOME GREAT PHILOSOPHIES OF THE PAST . XXIV. TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD XXV. THE VALIDITY OF INFERENCE XXVI. EVENTS, MATTER, AND MIND XXVII. MANS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE INDEX . PACE 195 209 218 2,2,6 233 247 265 277 287 303 313. CHAPTER I: PHILOSOPHIC DOUBTS.... PERHAPS it might be expected that I should begin with a definition of philosophy , but, rightly or wrongly, I do not propose to do so. The definition of philosophy will vary according to the philosophy we adopt all that we can say to begin with is that there are certain problems, which certain people find interesting, and which do not, at least at present, belong to any of the special sciences. These problems are all such as to raise doubts concerning what commonly passes for knowledge and if the doubts are to be answered, it can only be by means of a special study, to which we give the name philosophy. Therefore the first step in defining philo sophy is the indication of these problems and doubts, which is also the first step in the actual study of philosophy. There are some among the traditional problems of philosophy that do not seem to me to lend themselves to intellectual treatment, because they transcend our cognitive powers such problems I shall not deal with. There are others, however, as to which, even if a final solution is not possible at present, yet much can be done to show the direction in which a solution is to be sought, and the kind of solution that may in time prove possible. Philosophy arises from an unusually obstinate attempt to arrive at real knowledge. What passes for knowledge in ordinary life suffers from three defects it is cocksure, vague, and self-contradictory...