Nicholas Griffin on Russell's Idealist Apprenticeship

Extract

In his Autobiography Russell describes how, in 1895, having recently completed his undergraduate studies in mathematics and philosophy at Cambridge, he formed the intellectual project that was to inform the rest of his life:

I remember a cold, bright day in early spring when I walked by myself in the Tiergarten, and made projects of future work. I thought I would write one series of books on the philosophy of the sciences from pure mathematics to physiology, and another series of books on social questions. I hoped that the two series might ultimately meet in a synthesis at once scientific and practical. My scheme was largely inspired by Hegelian ideas. Nevertheless I have to some extent followed it in later years, as much at any rate as could have been expected. (Autobiography 1.125)