Urmson traces the development of the views of analytical philosophers about the nature of philosophy between the two world wars. First the positions of Russell in his writings on logical atomism and of Wittgenstein in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus are examined, together with developments of the atomistic position made in the late twenties and early thirties by such philosophers as Ramsey, Stebbing, and Wisdom. The shift of interest to logical positivism, and the reasons for it, are then discussed, together with the consequential changes in the conception of philosophical analysis. Finally a view of analysis proleptic of post-war philosophy is shown to have emerged in the late thirties.
The main purpose of this book is to give a concise account of some very interesting philosophical developments. But it is designed both to provide an historical background for those interested in contemporary philosophy and also to facilitate an approach to recent philosophy by those to whom it is a perplexing mystery.
Editorial Review(s)
"[M]ust surely remain for many years the standard work on the evolution of analytical philosophy in Britain between the two German wars." —Spectator
About the Author
J. O. Urmson, philosopher and classicist, was Emeritus Professor at Stanford University and Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was a prolific author and expert on a number of topics including British analytic/linguistic philosophy, George Berkely, ethics, and Greek philosophy, with a focus on Aristotle.
Peter Lautner is a Fellow of the Research Group for Classical Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
