Theme 1: Theory of Science

1.What does Russell mean by ”sense data” and why does he introduce this notion?

Why do we perceive an actual object the way we do? This is the way Russell discusses the sense data and argue about how we immediately identify a certain object. Russell underlines that reflection is made by a person in two categories: knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description. The sense data could be presented as an interaction with objects surrounding us. These objects are reflected in the mean of our personal senses and can therefore have different outcomes depending on what person perceives the particular object. Different senses are used by interpretation of the object such as smell, color and shape. Russell emphasizes a difference of perceiving information data and the question if it really exists or if the reality is not actually the appearance of an object how we perceive it.  

2. What is the meaning of the terms “proposition” and “statement of fact”? How does propositions and statement of facts differ from other kinds of verbal expressions? 

According to Russell a proposition is defined as a personal belief about a specific item. This belief can in many cases vary between from whom the proposition is implied from. Different circumstances can in this case be relevant. For example: “John is very tall”, we don’t know if this is true or false because the person who makes the proposition might be really short – which shows that it is a personal assumption about John and has not necessarily have to be true for one who has not made the statement.

A proposition might be the base to the statement of fact - where a certain amount of people recognizes the proposition and considering it to be true. This can be supported by different facts such as “the average length in this community is 1.58 cm, and John is 2.30 centimeters which makes him very tall”.  This makes it possible to reduce the fact that he could be short. Although, we cannot eliminate the possibility that John is tall in other communities. In both these cases it exists truths and falsehoods, even though statement of facts might be including a bit more truth. They both differ from other kinds of verbal expressions because they are subjective and dependable on context and surroundings if they are true or not. 

3. In chapter 5 (“knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description”) Russell introduces the notion “define description”. What does this notion mean?

According to Russell our knowledge for an object could be increased through a definite description - which he states is in the form "the so-and-so". This decreases misunderstanding and is more developed than the ambiguous description, which is in "a so-and-so" form. An ambiguous description could be for example "a building" while the definite description is more than just a singular object - such as "a school building designed in the mid eighties". In a way we could imagine ourselves a funnel where the ambiguous description is in the beginning and the definite distinguishes the wide spectrum towards understanding the subject in a greater term.

4. In chapter 13 (“Knowledge, Error and Probable Opinion”) and in chapter 14 (“The Limits of Philosopical Knowledge”) Russell attacks traditional problems in theory of knowledge (epistemology). What are the main points in Russell’s presentation?

In the chapters Russell discusses knowledge in the sense of the possibility to interpret how we can know if something is true or false. He states that our knowledge is perceived in a way that it may be a true belief that is based on a false proposition. But what is true belief? Russell underlines the two structures of understanding towards the subject: knowledge about truth and knowledge about things. The fact that we need to be critical towards trustworthy knowledge is stated in the chapter where he mentions an example about a man thinking that the late Prime Minister's name starts with "B", which is true, he thinks that the name is Balfour, but his real name is Bannerman. This is a typical example of how a truth and conclusion is based on false premises.