This collection of essays dates from the first decade of this century, and marks an important period in the evolution of Bertrand Russell's thought. Now available in paperback for the first time, they display all of Russell's clarity, incisiveness and brilliance of exposition, particularly on matters of ethics and the nature of truth. Russell intended the collection `to appeal to those who take an interest in philosophical questions without having had a professional training in philosophy' - those people will find these writings just as illuminating today.

    Chapter I and of the following essay are reprinted from the New Quarterly, February 1910; from the New Quarterly, May 1910; from the Hibbert Journal, October 1908; and and from the New Quarterly, September 1910.; Chapter II On History 1 Reprinted from The Independent Review, July 1904.; Chapter III Science and Hypothesis 1 Reprinted from Mind, July 1905.; Chapter IV Pragmatism 1 Reprinted from the Edinburgh Review, April 1909.; Chapter V William James's Conception of Truth 1 Pragmatism: a new name for some old ways of thinking. Popular Lectures on Philosophy, by William James (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1907). The following article is reprinted from the Albany Review, January 1908, where it appeared under the title ‘Transatlantic “Truth”.’ It has been criticized by William James in The Meaning of Truth (Longmans, 1909), in the article called ‘Two English Critics’.; Chapter VI The Monistic Theory of Truth 1 The following essay consists of the first two sections of an article entitled ‘The Nature of Truth’, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1906–7.; Chapter VII On the Nature of Truth and Falsehood;

    Biography

    Bertrand Russell

    `We have nothing but praise for these essays. It is rare for a man of great learning to come down into the philosophical arena and dispute with such lucidity, and above all with such sympathy, the views that he is criticising.' - The Oxford Magazine

    `In the manner of self-restraint, clear statement and rigorous argument these essays are models of what such essays should be.' - The Glasgow Herald

    `A serious and important contribution to philosophical literature' - The Hibbert Journal