Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell was a mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual from Britain. He was born on May 18, 1872, and died on February 2, 1970. He had a big impact on math, logic, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, and many areas of analytic philosophy, especially the philosophy of math, the philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics. He was one of the most well-known logicians in the early 20th century. He helped...See more

Bertrand Russell was a mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual from Britain. He was born on May 18, 1872, and died on February 2, 1970. He had a big impact on math, logic, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, and many areas of analytic philosophy, especially the philosophy of math, the philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics. He was one of the most well-known logicians in the early 20th century. He helped start analytic philosophy with Gottlob Frege, G. E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, who was also one of his students. Russell was an anti-imperialist who fought for peace and led the India League. He sometimes called for a nuclear war to prevent another one, but once the chance presented by the atomic monopoly was gone, he said he would "welcome with enthusiasm" a world government. During World War I, he didn't want to fight, so he went to jail. He also criticized Stalinist totalitarianism, criticized the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, and was an outspoken supporter of nuclear disarmament. He also won the De Morgan Medal in 1932, the Sylvester Medal in 1934, the Kalinga Prize in 1957, and the Jerusalem Prize in 1958. (1963). See less