Description: Examines the key exchanges between Russell and Wittgenstein just before the First World War, shedding much light on both figures, and on the philosophical preoccupations of an important period.
Brief description: Rosalind Carey is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Lehman College, City University of New York, USA. She is the author of Russell and Wittgenstein on the Nature of Judgement (Continuum, 2007) and co-author, with John Ongley, of A Historical Dictionary of Bertrand Russell's Philosophy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009).
Review Quotes:
""Do you remember that . . . I wrote a lot of stuff about the theory of knowledge which Wittgenstein criticised with the greatest severity? His criticism . . . was an event of first-rate importance in my life, and affected everything I have done since. I saw that he was right, and I saw that I could not hope ever again to do fundamental work in philosophy. My impulse was shattered, like a wave dashed to pieces against a breakwater. I became filled with utter despair, and tried to turn to you for consolation." Bertrand Russell, 1916, in a letter to Ottoline Morel." --Blurb from reviewer
"I recommend the book to anyone interested in the development of Russell's thoughts between 1910 and 1918, and in Russell's relation with Wittgenstein" --Maria van der Schaar, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews