Bertrand Russell on Truth
Can We Be Sure of the Truth of Any General Principle?
In Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell addresses the subject of induction. It forms the basis of his assertions related to knowledge and truth beyond experience or acquaintance. In general, he posits that we draw inferences based upon general principles and expectations to make meaning of our world beyond the range of our immediate experience and formulate truth. In order to draw an inference, it must be known that "some sort of thing, A, is a sign of the existence of some other sort of thing, B" (Russell 35). The existence of night usually signifies that it was preceded by day. Russell offers that we make these inferential judgments on a constant basis, even in situations where they are improbable.
Russell uses the general expectation that the sun will rise as the basis of his arguments on induction (32). That each new day will bring the sun is a universally accepted truth. The basis for this belief, for most people, is that the sun has always risen. Our past experiences, therefore, form our understanding of our future. We continue to believe that a certain principle will be true in the future only because that...
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Socrates and Plotinus also have very similar ideas on how Beauty is recognized, which though intimately related to their ideas on the nature of Beauty are somewhat different, also. For both men, Beauty was connected to the eternal. Socrates, being at least somewhat (and perhaps completely) atheistic, does not immediately or necessarily connect the concept of the eternal with the concept of the divine, however, but rather recognizes the inherent
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