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Bertrand Russell(1872-1970)

From The Problems of Philosophy (1912)Truth & Falsehood Knowledge, Error, & Probable Opinion

The Limits of Philosophical Knowledge

(Text, 439-451)

Under construction as of 9/1/08

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I ntroduction

R ussells philosophical work R ussells political activismThe content & purposes of TheProblems of Philosophy

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Truth & Falsehood (439-433)

H ow are we to distinguish between true beliefs and false beliefs? (269)

This is not the same as asking what beliefs are true and what beliefsare false. The question is, what do we mean by truth and falsity?

We need a theory of truth.

A satisfactory theory of truth must meet three requirements (269-

71): It must include a theory of falsity (the opposite of truth). It must recognize that truth and falsity are properties of beliefs. It must acknowledge that the truth or falsity of a belief is completely

dependent on the relation of the belief to something outside of thebelief itself.

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Truth & Falsehood, contd

R s defense of the correspondence theory of truth as opposed to the coherence theory of truth. The correspondence theory: truth as correspondence of belief

with fact (& falsity as non-correspondence of belief with fact) The coherence theory: A belief is true when it coheres [is

consistent] with the body of our beliefs; and a belief is false whenit fails to cohere [is inconsistent ] with the body of our beliefs.

R s criticisms of the coherence theory There is no proof that there is only one coherent system of beliefs. In

fact, it seems that, in various fields, there is more than one coherent body of beliefs.The concept of coherence is based on the laws of logic (e.g., the law of non-contradiction); but the laws of logic themselves cannot beestablished by this [the coherence] test.

For the above two reasons, coherence cannot be accepted as giving themeaning of truth, though it is often a most important test of truth after acertain amount of truth has become known. What does this mean? Explain.

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Truth & Falsehood, contd

In order to makeclear thedistinctionbetween truth and falsity, R ussell now focuses onthe relations that beliefs can have tothings outside of themselves.

Belief cannot be a

relation betweenthe mind and asingle object. Why not?

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K nowledge, Error, & Probable Opinion (443-447)

To be continued.

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The Limits of Philosophical K nowledge (447-451)

To be continued.

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S ummary

To be continued.