"The Problems of Philosophy"

Paper Summary:

In chapter V of his book, "The Problems of Philosophy," originally published 1912, Bertrand Russell examined how mere humans perceived the world and how this perception occurred. This paper provides a brief biography of Russell. This is followed by a review and discussion of his analysis in "The Problems of Philosophy" to identify how he distinguishes between 'Knowledge by Acquaintance' and 'Knowledge by Description'. The paper also identifies how Russell's theory presents a plausible account of representative realism. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.

From the Paper:

"To help elaborate on this component of his view, Russell says, "We shall say that we have acquaintance with anything of which we are directly aware, without the intermediary of any process of inference or any knowledge of truths." According to Russell, only the objects of immediate experience are known by acquaintance, through our direct awareness of them. Other things are known only by description, through the mediation of our apprehension of true propositions about them. For instance: "I am in a state of hunger now" may be known through acquaintance, but "Eating a pizza will relieve the state of hunger" can be known only by description. In spite of this apparently narrow extent, Bertrand maintains that knowledge by acquaintance provides the foundation for further knowledge by description, discussed further below. "

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