Religion and Science
2. The Views of Bertrand Russell
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For this purpose, Russell made a special study of
four branches of science — physics, physiology,
psychology and mathematical logic.
2
On the basis of these studies, he sets aside the
sceptical viewpoint: “Scepticism is psychologically
impossible.”
3
Here man faces a two-sided difficulty. On the one
hand, if we concede that ultimate truth is beyond
us, by what compass are our lives to be guided? On
the other hand, when we strenuously try to
penetrate life’s mysteries, success seems awesomely
remote.
“Philosophy from ancient times has made long
claims, but what it has achieved is far less as
compared to other sciences.”
4
In spite of life-long effort, even Russell himself
could not put forward a coherent philosophy. In the
words of Professor Alan Wood: ‘Bertrand Russell is
a philosopher without a philosophy.’
Logic and mathematics have together been considered
a means of apprehending reality, but according to
