Russell: A Very Short Introduction

Bertrand Russell was one of the many philosophers I studied when I was a young man. I was always fascinated with his wit and insight into various topics. I purchased this small 147 page paperback (Russell: A very short introduction by A.C. Russell) for a bargain price on Amazon.This little book surprisingly explores in detail some of Russell’s complex philosophical positions. It covers his early life and the various topics he explored studying with some of the most brilliant minds of his time. This book is organized into five areas. The first part focuses on his life and work. The second part goes into his philosophical views on logic and philosophy. The third part explores in some detail his research into philosophy, mind and science. Politics and society is covered in part four. According to this author Russell was not an atheist but an agnostic when it came to religion and the subject of God. He also believed in socialism but was suspicious and critical of the kind of socialism practiced in Germany at the time of Hitler. The final part deals with Russell’s influence in philosophy and the world. There is also a section on further reading about Bertrand Russell.I found this book interesting and enlightening about Bertrand Russell. I do not agree with many of his philosophical positions, especially his political stands; nevertheless, I do like some of his philosophical positions. If you are interested in this legendary philosopher you should check out this book.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Never Trust a Politician: A critical review of politics and politicians).

I got little out of Mr. Grayling's Very Short Introduction to Wittgenstein because he understood his task to be not simply to summarize Wittgenstein's thought but to criticize it in an introductory book. Never the less, I purchased his Very Short Introduction to Russell, where we see the same approach to an introductory book, except that here we read unrestrained praise poured on to his subject. But I got no more out of this book than the other one and the main reason is that Mr. Grayling seems to believe that complicated concepts can only be explained in complicated sentences. So, for example, the 9-line sentence on page 36 beginning with "By his own account he was....." is crammed with dependent clauses and parentheticals and ends with the monstrosity "and a Platonic realist in believing also in the existence, or at least in the 'being' (where this is a qualified and perhaps a lesser kind of existence), of 'numbers, the Homeric gods, relations, chimeras, and four-dimensional spaces' (the Principles of Mathematics (PoM) 449".After reading Mr. Graybill's offering on Wittgenstein I read Professor Monk's 'How To Read Wittgenstein': it was a cathartic experience to read short, lucid sentences that so easily explained the logical essence of Wittgenstein's thoughts. I wonder if I would have understood Russell's critique of the "subject-predicate straightjacket imposed upon propositions by Aristotelian logic' from Mr. Graybill's account had I not read Professor Monk's marvelous short book on Wittgenstein. Naturally, I scoured around to find if he had written anything about Russell: alas, he apparently has not.

Arrived in perfect condition as advertised.

As a long-time fan of Bertrand Russell's writings -- barring his negative stance on religion/spirituality -- I find A.C. Grayling's account of Russell's life and his monumentally creative thinking and writing a pleasure to read.This book is more about Russell's ideas and writings than his personal life. Grayling seems to me to do a fair analysis of Russell's philosophical stances and his works. This book is brief, but is rather jam-packed with brief summaries of many of Russell's greatest achievements.Anyone interested in knowing who Bertrand Russell was, what he believed, what his most deeply held convictions were, and what he contributed to 20th century culture should find this small volume a good source to consult. If you are a Russell fan, this book is not a bad purchase, and even if your interests are only tangential to the philosophy of Russell, you can hardly lose by getting this book.

Great review of Russell's contributions to philosophy. I respect the insights of philosophers like Russell, who experienced life to the full and devoted himself to social justice and peace causes (even going to jail) before coming to his conclusions amid clouds of pipe smoke..

Russell is my favourite. Versatile genius with knowledge in philosophy and mathematics while got Nobel prize for literature. This book expresses many facts on him. Good piece of literature.

Maybe I'm only biased against Grayling personally but I find him to be a weaselly sort of philosopher, and this shows through here in his [very short] introduction to Russell. Yes, it's only supposed to be a light first look at the man and his work, but Grayling is so non-committal and, dare I say it, afraid to be taken the wrong way by his peers that he ends up saying nothing of much profundity. But then, the whole purpose of a book like this is to be non-confrontational, perhaps, and so one could feasibly say that Grayling has done what he was supposed to; he has provided the agreed-upon facts.Despite achieving the book's demands, where I must take issue with Grayling, and with the book itself, is that there is surely an added responsibility to pique the interest of the readers, and not only to paddle about. This, Grayling fails to do. Maybe it's the fault of the publisher but really, Grayling should know better. He sketches an outline, draws a loose map, and leaves it to the reader to explore further. I would have very much liked to see Grayling put some sort of stamp on things ("I take issue with this, to find out why, see here", etc.) but then, I'm not sure that he is capable - he seems to have an encyclopaedic philosophical knowledge that doesn't particularly drive at anything. If I am correct in this characterisation, then Grayling might be seen by many to be the perfect type of author for this type of book. However, it is my contention that a book of this sort (and I'm quite sure that Russell would want to agree) should not only inform but also engage.

Excellent