Tuesday, 18 October 2005
Russell's Debt to Lotze's Philosophy of Science
Nikolay Milkov, U. of Bielefeld, Germany
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning
Abstract: Hermann Lotze influenced Russell’s
philosophy of science in three main directions: (1) Lotze underlined
the importance of order and of relations, in particular. A si milar
program was advanced in Russell’s The Principles of Mathematics
to which a Lotzean subtitle “A Study of Order” can be
given.
(2) Russell also followed Lotze’s program of atomism according
to which atoms are the ultimate building blocks of the world. Their
quality is unmodified in all compositions and divisions in which
they take part. (3) In his theory of space and time, Russell followed
Lotze in differentiating between extension and place/moment. Extension
refers to an infinite multiplicity of possible directions, but only
place and moment make these possibilities concrete.
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