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PHILOSOPHY AND ITS BACKGROUND

Abstract

IF one grants the assumption as to the nature of philosophy on which this book is based, it is a remarkable achievement. The assumption is, as Lord Russell says in the introduction, that philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science ; it is a no-man's-land ; it is speculation about the nature of the universe and the nature of things, based on the assumption that you can get definite answers on such subjects by speculation. Lord Russell does not think that you can do this, but the belief in the powers of such speculation has persisted and has produced many interesting results.

History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Politicaland Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

By Bertrand Russell. Pp. 916. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1946.) 21s. net.

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BIRKER, L. PHILOSOPHY AND ITS BACKGROUND. Nature 159, 723–724 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159723a0

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