Reading guide for Thurs. 1/19: Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, ch. 5
 
 

Chapter 5 explains Russell’s distinction between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description and elaborates the significance of this distinction. It is one of the two most important chapters of the book.

• Russell begins (in ¶¶5.1-5.3) by expanding on his initial discussion of the distinction, which appeared at the end of the last chapter.

• Next (¶¶5.4-5.12) he surveys the varieties of knowledge by acquaintance. Much of this discussion picks up points made already in the book; but he develops some ideas further, and he will develop some of these still further in later chapters.

• Russell’s account of knowledge by description employs the concept of definite descriptions and his analysis of such phrases; this gets presented in ¶¶5.13-5.17.

• Russell’s most fully developed example of knowledge by description is knowledge of Bismarck. The section where this is discussed (¶¶5.18-5.22) contains several ideas that you should pay especially close attention to.

• Russell’s claim that ordinary proper names are disguised definite descriptions (¶5.17) is in keeping with his views about our knowledge of external objects, but it has been influential independently as an account of the meanings of such words. Think whether you agree with him; at the end of the semester, we will look at Kripke’s criticism of this approach to the meaning of proper names.

• Thinking through Russell’s account of degrees of knowledge of things (¶¶5.18-5.19 and summarized in ¶5.22) is a good way of thinking yourself into his perspective on our knowledge of objects.

• The problem Russell tries to solve in ¶5.21 and his solution to it also provide valuable evidence of the way Russell thinks about knowledge and meaning. The distinctions he makes here are subtle, but coming to understand them will repay you in understanding not only Russell but also related ideas that will appear later in the course, especially in Kripke.

• The final important idea in the chapter is Russell’s “fundamental principle of analysis” (¶5.23). Begin to think about it now; the full elaboration of this picture of understanding (ch. 12) is the other key chapter in the book.