Bertrand Russell

The Right Honourable Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872—2 February 1970), was an influential British logician, philosopher, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. A prolific writer, Bertrand Russell was also a populariser of philosophy and a commentator on a large variety of topics, ranging from very serious issues to the mundane. Continuing a family tradition in political affairs, he was a prominent liberal but also a socialist and anti-war activist for most of his long life. Millions looked up to Russell as a prophet of the creative and rational life; at the same time, his stances on many topics were extremely controversial.

Further reading

Selected bibliography of Russell's books in English by year of first publication

• 1896, German Social Democracy, London: Longmans, Green.
• 1897, An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry, Cambridge: At the University Press.
• 1900, A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz, Cambridge: At the University Press.
• 1903, The Principles of Mathematics, Cambridge: At the University Press.
• 1910, Philosophical Essays, London: Longmans, Green.
• 1910–1913, Principia Mathematica (with Alfred North Whitehead), 3 vols., Cambridge: At the University Press.
• 1912, The Problems of Philosophy, London: Williams and Norgate.
• 1914, Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy, Chicago and London: Open Court Publishing.
• 1916, Principles of Social Reconstruction, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1916, Justice in War-time, Chicago: Open Court.
• 1917, Political Ideals, New York: The Century Co.
• 1918, Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays, London: Longmans, Green.
• 1918, Roads to Freedom: Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1919, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1920, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1921, The Analysis of Mind, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1922, The Problem of China, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1923, The Prospects of Industrial Civilization (in collaboration with Dora Russell), London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1923, The ABC of Atoms, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
• 1924, Icarus, or the Future of Science, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
• 1925, The ABC of Relativity, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
• 1925, What I Believe, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
• 1926, On Education, Especially in Early Childhood, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1927, The Analysis of Matter, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
• 1927, An Outline of Philosophy, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1927, Why I Am Not a Christian, London: Watts.
• 1927, Selected Papers of Bertrand Russell, New York: Modern Library.
• 1928, Sceptical Essays, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1929, Marriage and Morals, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1930, The Conquest of Happiness, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1931, The Scientific Outlook, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1932, Education and the Social Order, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1934, Freedom and Organization, 1814–1914, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1935, In Praise of Idleness, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1935, Religion and Science, London: Thornton Butterworth.
• 1936, Which Way to Peace?, London: Jonathan Cape.
• 1937, The Amberley Papers: The Letters and Diaries of Lord and Lady Amberley (with Patricia Russell), 2 vols., London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press.
• 1938, Power: A New Social Analysis, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1940, An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth, New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• 1945, A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, New York: Simon and Schuster.
• 1948, Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1949, Authority and the Individual, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1950, Unpopular Essays, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1951, New Hopes for a Changing World, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1952, The Impact of Science on Society, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1953, Satan in the Suburbs and Other Stories, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1954, Human Society in Ethics and Politics, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1954, Nightmares of Eminent Persons and Other Stories, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1956, Portraits from Memory and Other Essays, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1956, Logic and Knowledge: Essays 1901–1950 (edited by Robert C. Marsh), London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1957, Why I Am Not A Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (edited by Paul Edwards), London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1958, Understanding History and Other Essays, New York: Philosophical Library.
• 1959, Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1959, My Philosophical Development, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1959, Wisdom of the West ("editor", Paul Foulkes), London: Macdonald.
• 1960, Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind, Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Company.
• 1961, The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell (edited by R.E. Egner and L.E. Denonn), London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1961, Fact and Fiction, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1961, Has Man a Future?, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1963, Essays in Skepticism, New York: Philosophical Library.
• 1963, Unarmed Victory, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1965, On the Philosophy of Science (edited by Charles A. Fritz, Jr.), Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
• 1967, Russell's Peace Appeals (edited by Tsutomu Makino and Kazuteru Hitaka), Japan: Eichosha's New Current Books.
• 1967, War Crimes in Vietnam, London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1967–1969, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, 3 vols., London: George Allen & Unwin.
• 1969, Dear Bertrand Russell... A Selection of his Correspondence with the General Public 1950–1968 (edited by Barry Feinberg and Ronald Kasrils), London: George Allen and Unwin.

Note: This is a mere sampling, for Russell also authored many pamphlets, introductions, articles and letters to the editor. His works also can be found in any number of anthologies and collections, perhaps most notably, The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, which McMaster University began publishing in 1983. This collection of his shorter and previously unpublished works is now up to 16 volumes, and many more are forthcoming. An additional 3 volumes catalogue just his bibliography. The Russell Archives at McMaster also have more than 30,000 letters that he wrote.

Related Topics:
McMaster University - 1983

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Books about Russell's philosophy

• Bertrand Russell: Critical Assessments, edited by A.D. Irvine, consisting of essays on Russell's work by many distinguished philosophers, 4 vols, London: Routledge, 1999.
• Theories of Truth, by Richard L. Kirkham (1992). Chapter 4 includes a detailed discussion of Russell's theory of truth.
• Bertrand Russell, John Slater, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1994.
• The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell, edited by P.A. Schilpp, Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University, 1944.

Biographical books

• Bertrand Russell: 1872–1920 The Spirit of Solitude by Ray Monk (1997) ISBN 0099731312
• Bertrand Russell: 1921–1970 The Ghost of Madness by Ray Monk (2001) ISBN 009927275X
• Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and Humanist, by John Lewis (1968)
• Bertrand Russell, by A. J. Ayer (1972), reprint ed. 1988: ISBN 0226033430
• The Life of Bertrand Russell, by Ronald W. Clark (1975) ISBN 0394490592
• Bertrand Russell and His World, by Ronald W. Clark (1981) ISBN 0500130701