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Ideas for 'Natural Goodness', 'De Re Aedificatoria' and 'The Philosophy of Logical Atomism'

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5 ideas

7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 6. Fundamentals / d. Logical atoms

21708	Russell's new logical atomist was of particulars, universals and facts (not platonic propositions) [Russell, by Linsky,B]
	Full Idea: Russell's new logical atomist ontology was of particulars, universals and facts, replacing the ontology of 'platonic atomism' consisting just of propositions.
	From: report of Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918]) by Bernard Linsky - Russell's Metaphysical Logic 1
	A reaction: Linsky cites Peter Hylton as saying that the earlier view was never replaced. The earlier view required propositions to be 'unified'. I surmise that the formula 'Fa' combines a universal and a particular, to form an atomic fact. [...but Idea 6111!]

19051	Russell's atomic facts are actually compounds, and his true logical atoms are sense data [Russell, by Quine]
	Full Idea: In 1918 Russell does not admit facts as fundamental; atomic facts are atomic as facts go, but they are compound objects. The atoms of Russell's logical atomism are not atomic facts but sense data.
	From: report of Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918]) by Willard Quine - Russell's Ontological Development p.83
	A reaction: By about 1921 Russell had totally given up sense-data, because he had been reading behaviourist psychology.

6089	Logical atomism aims at logical atoms as the last residue of analysis [Russell]
	Full Idea: I call my doctrine logical atomism because, as the last residue of analysis, I wish to arrive at logical atoms and not physical atoms; some of them will be particulars, and others will be predicates and relations and so on.
	From: Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918], §I)
	A reaction: However we judge it, logical atomism is a vital landmark in the history of 'analytical' philosophy, because it lays out the ideal for our assessment. It is fashionable to denigrate analysis, but I think it is simply the nearest to wisdom we will ever get.

6100	Once you have enumerated all the atomic facts, there is a further fact that those are all the facts [Russell]
	Full Idea: When you have enumerated all the atomic facts in the world, it is a further fact about the world that those are all the atomic facts there are about the world.
	From: Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918], §V)
	A reaction: There is obviously a potential regress of facts about facts here. This looks like one of the reasons why the original logical atomism had a short shelf-life. Personally I see this as an argument in favour of rationalism, in the way Bonjour argues for it.

6105	Logical atoms aims to get down to ultimate simples, with their own unique reality [Russell]
	Full Idea: Logical atomism is the view that you can get down in theory, if not in practice, to ultimate simples, out of which the world is built, and that those simples have a kind of reality not belonging to anything else.
	From: Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918], §VIII)
	A reaction: This dream is to empiricists what the Absolute is to rationalists - a bit silly, but an embodiment of the motivating dream.