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Bertrand Russell: Ms. Saleha Shakir

Bertrand Russell was a 20th century British philosopher, mathematician, and writer known for his 55 books and work in fields like education, history, and politics. He received awards like the Nobel Prize in Literature. His interests included ethics, logic, and mathematics. Some of his most influential works examined education, philosophy of language, and why he was not a Christian. Russell was known for his clear, logical, and argumentative writing style that focused on reason over emotion. He aimed to explain even complex issues with simplicity and chose intriguing titles to arouse readers' curiosity.

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112 views13 pages

Bertrand Russell: Ms. Saleha Shakir

Bertrand Russell was a 20th century British philosopher, mathematician, and writer known for his 55 books and work in fields like education, history, and politics. He received awards like the Nobel Prize in Literature. His interests included ethics, logic, and mathematics. Some of his most influential works examined education, philosophy of language, and why he was not a Christian. Russell was known for his clear, logical, and argumentative writing style that focused on reason over emotion. He aimed to explain even complex issues with simplicity and chose intriguing titles to arouse readers' curiosity.

Uploaded by

farman haidar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Bertrand Russell

MS. SALEHA SHAKIR


Introduction
 Born on 18th May 1872
 He was British Philosopher, Mathematician and Historian Writer
 He also did a lot of work in the areas of Education, History, Economics, Political Theory
and Religious Studies
 His era was 20th century
 Russell wrote 55 books
 He died on 2nd February 1970 (aged 97)
Awards
 De Morgan Medal (1932)
 Sylvester Medal (1934)
 Nobel Prize in Literature (1950)
 Kalinga Prize (1957)
 Jerusalem Prize (1963)
Main Interests
 Ethics
 Logic
 Mathematics
 Metaphysics
 Education
 Philosophy of Language
 Philosophy of Mathematics
 Philosophy of Mind
Main Works in the Field of Literature
 On Education
 History of Western Philosophy
 Why I am Not a Christian
 Skeptical Essays
 Unpopular Essays
 Authority and the Individual
 Power
 Principles of Social Reconstruction
 Marriage and Morals
Russell’s Style of Writing
 Rhetorical Style
 Lucidity Style
 Argumentative Style
 Chiefly Style
 Embellishment & Ornamental Style
 Selection of the Title
Rhetorical Style
 Rhetorical Style is also called Ornamental Style
 Rhetorical Expressions, the voice and tone of the writer himself
 He has his own style of writing, whenever we read essay, we find
them unexceptional in style and philosophy, possessing a universal
appeal
 It is a peculiar as the laugh, walk, talk, handwriting and the
expression of the face
Lucidity Style
 Lucidity Style is direct, simple and clear
 He unravels even a most complex issue with clarity. He is a reformer
thinker so this clarity pays him much
 He believes that full communication takes place when the things
are explained in detail
 Russell even on most difficult topics is always simple and easy
Argumentative Style
 Russell’s style is argumentative because he is a logician
 He gives logical description in his essays with advantages and
disadvantages
 His work is based upon his personal experiences and minute
observation without any superficial quality
Chiefly Style
 Russell’s style is chiefly governed by his sense of reason and not by
his sense of emotions
 This is precisely the reason that his prose resembles that of Bacon,
Dryden, Aldous Huxley and E.M Forster
 He never goes poetic like Milton or Sir Thomas Browne
Embellishment & Ornamental Style
 Russell Style is free from embellishment and ornamental effects
 It is plain, unadorned style
 It is rarely charged even with emotions, being mainly addressed to the
intelligence or the intellect as distinguished from the heart or the
feelings
 Yet it is not uninteresting, dull, tedious or monotonous in its effect
Selection of Titles
 The selection of Titles for Russell’s essays which are often surprising,
starting and obscure
 This title ‘In Praise of Idleness’ and ‘Useless Knowledge’ arouse the
curiosity of all readers because they seem to be ridiculous and
completely against the expectations of a rational mind. ‘Dreams
and Facts’ and ‘The Harm that Good Men Do’ are also interesting
and fascinating topics
Characteristics
 The most conspicuous characteristics of his style are clarity, lucidity,
grace and elegance
 He takes great pains to make ideas clear to the reader
 His style is not at all forced or laborious

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