Russell

Lecture 4, Russell, of UGS 303, Ideas of the Twentieth Century, at the University of Texas at Austin, Fall 2013

[@shayanrahat]

First of all, great video! I'm trying to find my way into Russell's writings and found this extremely helpful. So, thank you.(And I actually do find the subject of Russell's paper and thus the lecture very interesting.) But...why does the video cut off in the middle of the lecture? Where, if anywhere, can I find the full video?

[@ahmedbellankas2549]

Analytic philosophy is not boring, it's great, professor, i share your passion.

[@philosophicalneo]

i usually reconcile this scope of ambiguity as... something is more right or something is more wrong, that way it can still be a conclusive statement, even if it cannot be fully right or wrong. this applies to many types of spectrum such as morality - something is more virtuous or something is more vicious... etc

[@RobbyStella]

I thought the lecture was great and made perfect sense. It wasn’t super polished yet but this is a tough topic. Thanks Professor!!

[@Robinson8491]

I think this was actually a very important presentation, thank you. It's great context for analytic philosophy and for isntance the existence of David Lewis and Saul Kripke

[@mileskeller5244]

Brilliantly simplified and explained sir. I'm a big fan.

[@MrColbyN]

These lectures are awesome, thank you for uploading them

[@rgaleny]

Gosh ! Language, like math is an abstract tool. Magritte had a painting of a Pipe called, "This is not a pipe." No, it is the painting of one. The words, "this is a chicken sandwich" (or the recipe for one)is not a chicken sandwich. So, then there are simple concepts and complex ones (Locke). If I have to go to the bathroom (and there are may phrases to convey the idea) it is pretty easy to convey that to another person. We don't worry about Ambiguity. Putting together a bicycle from instructions requires that the instructions are clear. Still, bicycles are part of our experience. What about the Carbon atom? With that we can only use the models we have worked up. Then, there's things like the nature of justice. You can't hold it in your hand, it is transcendental. But, it usually refers to something as relates to the games between people, like contracts. There is a path to the absurd in poorly constructed orders from a general. Yet, as the complex goes, something like "The Big Bang Theory" or "Relativity", requires a complex set of skills to derive and convey,and, where other theories (see the Electric Universe Model) attempt to dispute. Here, the scientific method, applied to the nature of language, show a need for definition that needs a little work. Just how unambiguous do you need to be? Well, there is formal and informal language, and, there is Prose and Poetic language. (See: the three bears). In Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath, the Jode family is Fictitious, But, it is quasi- journalistic non the less. So, fictions can convey what an other form may lack in persuasion. Then, there is just plain Lying ! You can use language to swindle people. You can construct a propaganda that coveys a view that only looks respectable. Experience is the best defense against that. There is a guy who posted me on KZbin who wanted to convince me to be a Creationist. He said there is NO proof of evolution. I said, you didn't do your homework ! He didn't like that. Anyway, language is an approximation of the world, like a mind map.

[@mikehuffman5460]

very interesting lectures --- I love the University of Texas

[@stephenchavura8456]

Good talk. Thanks. Now I'll go and read On Denoting......again

[@robertmontgomery6256]

I don’t think Bonevac was able to answer the student’s “But there is no (such entity as the) King of France”. As he admits analyticity in itself is meaningless. No? Full disclosure: I failed logic. My average over four years was 3.95.

[@thesirevn334]

Dialetheism is difficult to refute. (Yes and no)😉

[@andykreusel3099]

Thank you. Interesting lectures. Why are some so much shorter than others? Is there a second part to this particular lecture?

[@emisferadefecta]

Hello. I have not been able to find the lecture on Realism. Is it not uploaded or should I look for it again? Thank you.

[@rgaleny]

In 2001: a space Odessy , HAL, the AI computer goes haywire because of an ambiguous set of orders.