RUSSELL AND THE LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY It is generally acknowledged that Bertrand Russell played a vital role in the so-called "revolution" that has taken place in twentieth century Anglo-American philosophy, the revolution that has led many philoยญ sophers virtually to equate philosophy with some variety - or varieties - of linguistic analysis. His contributions to this revolution were twoยญ fold: (I) together with G. E. Moore he led the successful revolt against the neo-Hegelianism of Idealists such as Bradley and McTaggert; (2) again with Moore he provided much of the impetus for a somewhat revolutionary way of doing philosophy. (I) and (2) are, of course, closeยญ ly related, since the new way of philosophizing could be said to constiยญ tute, in large part, the revolt against Idealism. Be this as it may, howยญ ever, the important fact for present consideration is that Russell was a major influence in turning Anglo-American philosophy in the direction it has subsequently taken - toward what may be termed, quite generalยญ ly, the "linguistic philosophy. " Unfortunately, though his importance as a precursor of the linguistic philosophy is well-known, the precise sense in which Russell himself can be considered a "philosopher of language" has not, to the present time, been sufficiently clarified. Useful beginnings have been made toward an investigation of this question, but they have been, withal, only beginยญ nings, and nothing like an adequate picture of Russell's overall philosoยญ phy of language is presently available
CONTENT
Russell and the linguistic philosophy -- I. The quest for logical form -- Reference and meaning -- Two senses of โlogical formโ -- Logical form, propositional constituents, and reconstructionism -- The โlogically perfectโ language -- The theory of acquaintance -- Proper names -- The โminimum vocabularyโ -- Summary and conclusion -- II. The uses of reconstructionism -- The theory of descriptions -- The analysis of class-symbols -- The logical construction of physical objects -- Conclusion -- III. Critique of Russell's philosophy of language -- The theory of acquaintance -- The doctrine of logical form -- Philosophical analysis as elucidation of ontological structure -- Selected Bibliography
