<<

C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) T to thework. wit, in used at Antonio, transcript (with many errors), fol. 28; 28; fol. Antonio, transcript(withmanyerrors), The BertrandRussellResearchCentre,McMasterU. PM matter. Thispaper subject enlivening his totakeoneoftheau Russell, written. humour inthatwork,despitetheinau Ye in studiesofmathematicalhumour. jokes in the jokes inthe yourselfafew allow Ralph SchoenmanpromptsRussell:“Butyoudid this is occasionally useful.” this isoccasionally know thatinChapter10Iprovedoneand are two. Iremarked russell: uminous, mysteriousanddull.Thenyo “Do notattempttobeamusing;avoidluc proof of1+=2, belated its for Except the Koranor o “Chapter 110”.Hesometimesreferred T 2 1 ered this advice to budding authors hopingtowriteabest-sellerlike ered thisadvicetobuddingauthors Deliveredattheannualmeetingofth “Recorded Interview with Be with “RecordedInterview z to uncover its humour and wit, which, andwit, humour to uncoverits Principia Mathematica to have a transcript of much more of it, and in the transcript the to haveatranscriptofmuchmoreit,andin W omorrow evening  h ora fBrrn usl tde n.s.31(summer2011): 151–60 the JournalofBertrand RussellStudies lm biography of the 93-year-old BertrandRussell.We’relucky the of lm biography 110.643, wellintoVolume THE WITANDHUMOUROF PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA PRINCIPIA Russell Archives/Russell Rese Russell Archives/Russell Principia Capital zz : , Bertie?”Heresponded:“Veryfew.VeryI Hamilton, Kenneth Blackwell blackwk 1 you’ll be watching portions of an un 2 This is exactly thephraseWhiteheadandhe is This rtrand Russell”, 22Nov.1965, Russell”, rtrand z ? Russell himself rated the book as dull. He dull. Russell himselfratedthebookas ? to starredentriesaschapters. on @ , Canada , Canada mcmaster.ca e BertrandRussellSociety,21May2010. spicious conditions under which it was which spicious conditionsunder ii arch Centre / McMaster U. Centre/McMaster arch Principia Mathematica thors, hadanirrepressibletalentfor t thereisrestrainedandunderstated explores eventhe“obscurecorners”of . Is this it forthis humour,Is . orat least u mayhopetobecomeoneofthe idity at all costs; beprofound,vol- costs; all idity at fornon-logicians,canbeanentree ra rec. acq. 680. Perhaps Russellsaid Perhaps 680. rec.acq. l 8 s 4 l issn 0036-01631; 6 W lmed by Emile de lmed byEmile z z doesn’t feature doesn’t online1913-8032 W nished C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) “had actuallydamagedhisbrain”doing reportedly remarked that,duetothelevelof concentration involved, he Papers very witty). Russell later confessed: “thedi confessed: very witty).Russelllater moral uplift. recovered fromthestrain.” have beenwastingtheirtime.” the who read“bits”wouldn’tpraise had forgotten, athingwhichbothHitlerandStalinremembered had forgotten, enumerated, but,alas,itneverbecamea just andIproducedabookhavingallfourrequisitesthathave Whitehead bestsellers.”Notthat this reci world’s kenneth blackwell 152 :PhilosopheroftheCentury He otherwisecharacterized into his writings and lectures.G. into hiswritingsand Principia humour”,especiallyifitopensup and for “thestimulationofhiswit humour than Whitehead, whose Whitehead, than humour the absence teaching(andsoRussellmaybemoreresponsiblefor Whitehead’s in book humour. Russellhadagrimtimewritingoutthe going tomaintainthat “for thejokesandforthrillofanoccasional ”. too great for any pleasure tobepossible.” too greatforanypleasure sibly no human being will everdiscover.” will sibly nohumanbeing been spentonsmallpointsinobscurecornersofthebook,whichpos- uscript readybyOctober1909,“to think how much timeandtroublehas “It isamusing”,he wrote after packingupthe4,000pages ofthe man- of obscurity.Russellevenadmitted thisinsomepre-publicationhumour: ture.” sophic profundityofwhichobscurityisthemosteasilyrecognizablefea- bridge that Russell “was full ofjokes”. full bridge thatRussell“was 12 8 7 6 5 3 Like C. Russell to LucyMartin Donnelly,18Oct.1909( Russell Russell,“TheUseofBooks”(1951),in

“SomePersonalImpressionsofRussell RusselltoDonnelly,18March1908( The young person wasbudding young The Papers z 6:xiv. 4 Nevertheless, Ithinkwewouldagreethat z z 6:xxiv. forus. x D. Broad,whostudied under Russell,wemaybegrateful 3 wwwwww 7 Russell was very aware ofhisabilitytoinjecthumour 9

Ibid. Principia Mathematica Principia 11 z Principia 6: xxi. 6:xxi. To ayoungpersonsome25yearslaterhe To z 6 W Principia lm directorRichardLeacock,whoquotesthe y wwwwww ra H. HardyspreadthewordatCam- z (London: Allen and Unwin, 1967),p.108. Unwin, (London:Allenand book, “because otherwisetheywould book, B&R pe isasurewaytosuccess.Myfriend best seller. There was onething that we 1 710); quoted in z as “appear[ing] to lack that philo- as“appear[ing]tolackthat as aPhilosopher”, inSchoenman, ed., 8 Principia 1: xlviii–xlix. Studentsattendedhislectures 10 z correspondenceisnevertheless

10 5 Auto. He had no fear that people U ra “[M]yintellectneverquite culty andthelabourwere 1 710); 1:156. . 12 Principia z teemswithhidden Russellsodedicated Papers SLBR z z 1: #152; quoted in quoted 1:#152; 6:xiv. 9 Still, I am not Still,Iam z has its share hasits 4

11 MPD z

— Ibid. z I mean , p.75. 1:153. C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) the di mirthful, oratleastwitty.In hated foryears.” feel at the death of an ill-temperedinvalidwhomtheyhavenursed and manuscript,hefelt“moreorlessaspeople the up when hehadpacked himself underthetrains. and feelclosetoputting Oxford” near on thefootbridgeatKennington, life” insolvingit. whole oftherestmy “the Paradox, hewasprepared,says,tospend Semeïon Editions,J. 2011). To (Wood, p.69). he sometimesdoubtedwhet out ofhimthat sibility ofafourthdimensionforus,hecommented: himself to the task that when it came to the supreme di supreme himself tothetaskthatwhenitcame quoted inClark, p. 166. in hisremark forthcoming di consistenthumourofthe the tion. It is easy to think, but hard to commenda- for book perhaps venture topickoutaminorfeatureofthe may We itualists. built a“spiritcabinet”,toexposenumber of frauds perpetrated byspir- a best-selleroncardsharping,combinedwiththe latter, acarpenterwho Maskelyne andCookeareworthknowingabout.Theformer,author of fewSpiritualists a and who know, I as The onlypeople,sofar pared reviewed itonthefrontpageof [chastity] a good try once, butneveragain!” once, try [chastity] agood nomena moresimplyexplained,perhaps,byMaskelyneandCooke. U Yet Russellhadalreadymadeagoodstartinrenderingmathematics 17 16 15 13 Volume Russell to Irina Wragge-Morley (later Stickland), 5 March 1947, 5March Stickland), (later Wragge-Morley RusselltoIrina medium, someofthejokes the culty of

MPD An Essayonthe Foundations of SLBR T Principia erent spacesoftheFlatlandersandSpherelanders pos- , p.79; z 1: #152; quoted in in 1:#152;quoted 1 of Auto z ’s humourwiththatof Principia 16 13 The WitandHumourof Hewasnotlivingalifeconducivetohumour. Duringtheyearsofwriting z . 1:152. z — z The FeelingofBeingThere:aFilmmaker’sMemoir the formerinjoke,lattertoexplaincertainphe- Papers waspublishedinDecember1910.Hardylater x E. LittlewoodRussellsaidth 14 It was during this period that he “gave it Principles ofMathematics The FoundationsofGeometry z 6:xiv. The TimesLiterarySupplement joke, in symbols; and thisvolumehasnot symbols; joke, in 14 (Cambridge, her he would ever be the same man again” man her hewouldeverbethesame have usedthisanalogy,areDrAbbot

Auto The PrinciplesofMathematics are verygood.Thebestisthatper- z zz . 1:152.

rnii ahmtc 153 Principia Mathematica Principia 15 Nowonder,then,that uk e book “hadtakensomuch e : Cambridge U.P.),p.105. : Cambridge . Still, considering the . Still,considering z hewould“stand , in discussing , in ra U rec.acq.921; . Hecom- culty, the 17 z (Paris: z : C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) the temperancemovement,whichRussellsupportedattime. lence”, preservedadiscreetandcontinuoussi- tinuity anddiscreteness,they of June19 the 18th on Tooting, Upper Road, Gladstone ofCamelot, residence “Died athis exempted frombeingthebuttofhumourin to theobituary: similar tothethings, if any, of which they areconcepts.Russellproceeds reader todiscoverthemforhimself. that areviewer book circulation ofthe petrated attheexpenseoflawcont kenneth blackwell 154 in his next letter, is so nice that it is it that sonice nextletter,is his in on 1 to theexpensesofVolume contributed thesecondedition. vergeofreprinting the on was this wouldfollow,suchas individual one sumption thatmorethan We might,ofcourse,haveincluded Hegelians faredpoorlyinthe … weshouldbesurprisedto a public-houseanddrunkenwife”. not, as Russellsays,“anactualmanwithatailorand bank-account or The authorslongago ment”. humour forits“restraintandunderstate- that RussellpraisedChinese Press ( concept “aman” may havehadinmindisthefamousobituaryof culation. Asfortheconsistenthumourof publication, soIwillproceedwithoutfearofharmingthebook’scir- 23 22 20 19 18

Though not until 1949. See Russell’s co Thoughnotuntil1949.SeeRussell’s Landini,

Times LiterarySupplement PoM The ProblemofChina ra 21 22 rec. acq. 25). He rais rec.acq.25).He a remarkRussellrecalledinthe z , p. 53.Possiblythesecondactualma , GregoryLandini z — z Russell a,eds o fDahadSn”( ofDeathandSin.” son eldest Man, , (London:Routlege,2011[2010]),p.99. 19 z (London:AllenandUnwin,1922),p.188. wererepaidtheir£50subsidiesfor ( ' ed thematteroftheirsubsidy of Volumes 1–111 when , 7Sept.1911,p.322;reprintedinHardy’s f W W , nds nd inthe x ipsofacto z Principles , y 23 z ) 18 “alogician’sjoke”inthispassage: among our primitive propositions theas- propositions among ourprimitive .

f ly. Thisdistinction,whichRussellaccepted shouldrepeatthem;andweleavethe z radiction. Butitwouldbeunfairtothe exists, orsomeassumptionfromwhich zz amusing. ! rrespondence with Cambridge University Cambridge with rrespondence Times 20 z n (and woman) was astockexamplefrom x

z Conceptsdon’thaveattributes W : “as to what they meant by con- by : “astowhattheymeant .

lm interview. Monists were not were lm interview.Monists ~

z such a notice asthefollowing: notice a such f cup z z ! Principia Principles z y z repliedthattheauthorshad . z , but let us, butrecall , onejokeHardy 21 Papers

PoM Principia PoM z , p.287. z , 7: 862. , p.54) cup z — z ’s z C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) acumen, atopicalreference,andgestureoffauxpatriotism. when heVolume reviewed +1=2mightbe“theonlyjokeinthebook” 1 famous remarkabout dain, whoknewamathematicaljokewhenhesawone,thoughtthe matica 2: 8] that“the whole universe” consists of asingle individual). monism haveaslenderbasisofagreement. tion ofRussell’sownbest-seller, Thiswasthecasein1918,andagain1945,whenpublica- supply. Britain’s paper on it waseventopical.Now,wartimebroughtrestrictions is2 nine individuals.The just with number ofclassesinaworld indiscussingthe point squeeze morewordsonapage.Hecameto matical Philosophy of manuscript the delayed. In1918hewaswriting many philosophers,beingmoni this assumption,andwe have therefore ex But veryfewofthepropositionswhich not su 2: 8,325).At thelastpassage 216, 1:  In 10 threetimes “about classes ofclasses.Herethenumberdigitswillbe is155.)Hemovesontoclassesof Klement tellsmetheexactnumber least) one individual. It’samusingto least) oneindividual. write outthisnumber.…” 1912): 381. that thenullclassisnotuniversal isnoteverything”(1:216).Formallyitmeans is translatedas“nothing 24.1 152 We reachatlastthe collectedwitandhumourof We All pagereferencesto Russell’s mathematical humour didn’t cease with Russell’s mathematicalhumourdidn’tceasewith 26 25 24 

”. Russell comments:“Inatimeofpaper shortage it is undesirable to Allowance for monists, or monistic ph Allowanceformonists,ormonistic P. 24, theauthorshadvergeduponoutright IMP U wwww y . As we saw,Hardyloweredthereader’sexpectations.PhilipJour- E. ce to disprovethissupposition” (thatth ce z , p.133. y B. Jourdain,“ | 512

. . Thisnumber,hesays,will have “about 153digits”.(Kevin

L

= | V The WitandHumourof in prison.The handwritingistiny,thebetterto in Principia Mathematica Principia Mathematica 25 ii In this remark he combinedmathematical Inthisremark t,dn hsasmto.( sts, deny this assumption. . 26 HardyhadonlyreadVolume authors say that“Ourprimitive propositionsdo A History ofWesternPhilosophy History A ilosophers, ismadethreeothertimes( ilosophers, we mightupon wish toprovedepend cluded it.Itshould W z aretothesecondedition(1925–27). z ere is more than one individual, or[at oneindividual, morethan ere is ”, nd thatinthis, zz z The CambridgeReview —

rnii ahmtc 155 Principia Mathematica z X in otherwords,there is (at ippancy. Theproposition Introduction to Mathe- Principia Principia Mathe- be observed that Principia . Sometimes . PM 33(25April 1 z 1:335) bythe z , was z and PM 24 z C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) burgius onNoses burgius of author “the proposition, edition willnoticetheoddexample dominant themein humour, instancing P., 1985), pp. 10–12, 154–5. P., 1985),pp.10–12, thing thatGödelshowed“thattheseparado “certain self-referentparadoxe tention fromJourdain’s Tristram Shandy in deference to the seriousness of the theory oftypes the of in deferencetotheseriousness “Groucho Meets Russell”, in his his in MeetsRussell”, “Groucho p. 63; ( …” long’ inordinately are ofnoses,Iexceptsuchas I speak ‘When say nose, long a by mentioningthatyouwon’tmentionit: “O 1907), hemaintained of Types”(writtenin until neartheendofVolume come of hisreview,andwhatisperhapsthewittiestpassagedoesn’t time kenneth blackwell 156 win, 1918),p.77. sell’s). Humor ofjokehasbeendubbed“Russelljokes”in kind this at the expense of illegitimate totalities, despitethelureofsuchfun.Yet cover, to melongago,thereisnosuchbookoutsideofits types to Bergson’s laughter formula abouthumansbehavingmechani- types toBergson’slaughterformula William F. Fry, Jr.inhisarticle“HumorandParadox”,identi F. William idea thatpartsofanon-existentbookcouldberead. pagesofEnglishtranslation.PerhapsRussellenjoyedthe more several and bookhasaLatintitle,threepagesof“original”text, existent sell’s terms,because,asNickGri referential (or vicious-circle or illegitimate) totalities. illegitimate) referential (orvicious-circleor ume is someversionofRussell’sparadox or itsresolution”.Infact when it came toreviewingBergson’slittlebook, it when irresistible seldom indulgesinillegitimatetotalities.Butthelurewas 29 28 27 oftheDescriptionssectionIntroductionto Readers There is an of self- in this passage, but itisnotwhat There isanelementofself-referenceinthispassage,

Chicago and London: U. of Chicago P., 1980, p. 44. Don’t miss Paulos’ dialogue, Paulos’ p.44.Don’tmiss P., 1980, London:U.ofChicago and Chicago was fondofnasalexamples. In“M Russell American BehavioralScientist ii Papers 29 Principia of by JohnAllenPaulos(whowasalatecorrespondentofRus- Russelljokesarede Principia z 5, forthcoming).ThankstoLandinifo avoids self-referential humour. Notasinglejokecomes self-referential avoids z . If you readLawrenceSterne,you’ll If . wasapoet” z appeared. Russell declined to extend the theory of appeared.Russelldeclinedtoextendthetheory The PhilosophyofMr.B*rtr*ndR*ss*ll s arecentraltothenatureof humor”, and thatit’sagood I Think,ThereforeLaugh W 27 30 (1987): 42–71 (at 47–8, 55). Fry maintains that maintains 47–8,55).Fry (1987):42–71(at 30 ned as those “whose logical underpinning ned asthose“whoselogical iii ( 1 U . I’llleavethebestforlast. : 68).Thepropositionisfalse,inRus- n andAlasdairUrquhartpointedout that youcouldn’tavoidmentioningatopic xes areinherentlyunresolvable”(p.56). ne mightaswell,intalkingtoamanwith athematical Logic asBasedontheTheory Principia r bringingthisexampletomyat- z ’s attempt toavoidself- z (New York:Columbia U. Laughter y (London:AllenandUn- W 28 ctional reference in W So far asIcandis- So and nd thatthenon- z — z , beforeVol- z Russell very z — Slawken- W z perhaps ed asa W LK rst , C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) Murray: anUn the short chapter, “The HierarchyofJokes”. “The the shortchapter, the multi-leveljestinvolvingseveralScotsmenin “Russell joke”,namely would makesuchlogicalhumourimpossible. much thatheappendeditto ofthe‘LawsThought’ same workRussellidenti Russell novelty ofMr.R*ss*ll’sinlogic! thethe proof in that“jokeshierarchy form a Editrice 14]). I.Grattan-Guinnesspoints itself a islivingasifitweremechanical,andthereforebyhisownrule what hisreviewasfollows:“Everyformulatreats concluded he cally, when rec. acq. 69); quoted in Russell”, lections ofThreeHourswithBertrand direct statem many curious workcontaining ‘Yes. Thereisthatjoke.’ ‘Yes. originals and, when anybodymadeajokeinhispresence, he would say, donwhohadreducedalljokesto37proto-Aryan Oxford there wasan Gilbert Murray. “He assured meonce”,Russellrecollectedin1958,“that volving theunfortunateScotsmenandfourthbeingabout volving sense of humour when he encountered them in hisclasses. in sense ofhumourwhenheencounteredthem dull Russell hadprivatelyin1911caricaturedsomeScotsforanalleged jokes andthemeansofavoidingtherebyavicious-circlefallacy. Aryan tocreditRussellwithembellishingthisjokeaboutthe37proto- more substantial evidence. The more substantialevidence. concerned in the lowerlevelsandofwhoenjoyssuchjokes.Jokes the in concerned story endswithananalysisofthetopics three, allsuitablynested.The to Jourdain, with insider information, is Broad’s review in (Russell toAllenandUnwin,10June1918, book tohis publisher as “very amusing, and Paul, 1971).(Healtered“Scotchmen”to dain’s wittily phrased rendition has four levels, with the dain’s wittilyphrasedrenditionhasfourlevels,with Nevertheless, Jourdainhadhisalteregofor Russell indulge in a superb 33 32 31 30

“A Fifty-Six Year Friendship”, inJean SmithandArnold Toynbee, eds., RusselltoLady Ottoline Morrell, no.

The PhilosophyofMr.B*rtr*ndR*ss*ll Papers z — W clueb z Dear Jourdain tting objectoflaughter.” z 12: 386; Jourdain, 12:386;Jourdain, Selected EssaysontheHistoryof W , 1991),pp.xxxvii nished Autobiography The WitandHumourof z (London:Duckworth,1977),pp. Papers W es the maid-servant of Jourdain’s Chapter 11(“Objective Chapter of Jourdain’s es themaid-servant The Theoryof Logical Types z z 6:xxiv. ” The PhilosophyofMr.B*rtr*ndR*ss*ll 33 out other jokes takenfromthe other out T Thestoryisajokeatthenextlevel.Jour- z ”) astheMurrays’maid-servant. . as amusing as Jourdain’s book, andreplete. Almost as amusingJourdain’s as z (London: AllenandUnwin, 30 W The application of the theoryoftypes Theapplicationof rst-level basisofthejokecamefrom “Scotsmen”.) Russellhadrecommendedthe SetTheoryandLogics(1906–1918) , Chap. 39. Irving Copi 39.Irving , Chap. at the same time by no means uninstructive” means no at thesametimeby 214, 11 Oct. 1911(MorrellPapers,Texas; ra sense of the Theory ofTypes”animportant of sense ents ofmine”(Leste Mind rec. acq. 70). He la Correct English zz

y 28 (1919): 485–6. Broad considered 28(1919):485–6.Broad rnii ahmtc 157 Principia Mathematica 31

Thereissurelysu z (London: Routledge&Kegan 140–1, and inhisintroduction z 44[Dec.1943]:14–19[at Principia r E.Denonn,“Recol- 1960),p.207. In the ter describeditas“a likedthechapterso , p.87. W z periodin rst threein- 32 z (Bologna: There’s U Gilbert cient Dear W rst ra C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) ciples son cannot assert all thenon-intensionalfunctionsof their intersectionissymbolizedin the summaryof their euphoria ofpublishing may concludethatRussellwasnotabovejokes,atleastduringthe employed this reasoniso work ofthemostrigoroussymbolicreasoning, witty orhumorous.Ina higher levelsrequire“asoundlogical training”, “while jokes of trans kenneth blackwell 158 Historical MathematicsCollection(http: If wemake  cipia PM the Maybe comment, “wehavefoundfewoccasionsforitsuse.” authors 111ofVolume1:“inspiteitsfame”,the page on summary is inthe It is easy to con to easy is It tained an immense index ofwherepropositionswereused in “imaginary sceptic”( through Volume order presumably only excite the inaudible laughter of the gods.” the order presumablyonlyexcitetheinaudiblelaughterof dain, inhisjoke-bookonRussell,alsonoticedthepassage. Mysteriously election?), richfathersofEtoniansons ( remarkdatingfromtheWimbledonby- political employees (1:265,a wives ( 546, 579),ChristiansandMohammedanstheirrespectivesetsof ministers ( 3.24 The jokeonthelawofcontradiction, 38 37 36 35 34 Wit andhumourgiveabooklife,butnotallthatgiveslifeis y “Props WhereUsed”, “[A] relation limitedbothastoits

@ The PhilosophyofMr.B*rtr*ndR*ss*ll The PhilosophyofMr.B*rtr*ndR*ss*ll Principia z is populated by polar explorers, the featherless biped of the of ispopulatedbypolarexplorers,thefeatherlessbiped z (“ wwww z 100 conferencewilltelluswhy that is. Incidentally, Russell main- i x : 299),Socrates,PlatoandAristotle( z hastwolegsandnofeathers”[1:23,73]),AdamEve( z — R a | z the relation of son to parent (whi parent therelationofsonto z ’s z ) andsonsoffoolishmaleparents( z

only at z (therelationofsontofatherbeingmany-one), .

W iii T ~ rst edition canbesearcheddigita edition rst W ered once:“because life is tooshort.”Thatwhyaper- , at , at ( rm howseldomthelawofcontradiction’snumberwas z p

 . 

276.43. i ~ 22.89 andinthedemonstrationof : 38), whiteemployersinrelation : 38),

Principia p ra z ) 1 230.031270(260leaves).Theindexstopsmid-way domain and as to its converse domain”: conversedomain”: andastoits domain . //quod.lib.umich.edu/u/umhistmath/). , Chap. 39. , Chap. , p.21. i : 281), and thesonsofCabinet ch isnotmany-one),itnolonger lly intheUniversityofMichigan passim b y ). The emptiness of ). The  72.411: z 37 f ), animportant ), 38 z ! z  z ˆ to“coloured” z (1:73). 60.33. 36 a Principia y " a y 35 b z ¼ Jour- 34 W Prin- Prin- zy R = We nite zz ½ y L b 1 . . : . C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) shrieks upside down (message to Broad, 17 July 1918, 17July toBroad, down(message upside shrieks praised thearticlefromhispris down own petnamesformanysymbols”. manor ofEastGreenwich”( apoundofcheese(3:407),and“the half 291), oyster andahydra(1: but wrote fondly that“Wecamerath o ebr ( mon member. CabinetMinistersand the sonsoffoolshaveof nocom- sons follows that the and Now”, funny. Itfollowsthedemonstrationof lishment, orboth,mightcon foolish mother.Politicalresearch,insideknowledgeoftheEnglishestab- Cabinet ministeranda a of (but donotimply)thattherewasason nets of 1906 and 1910, the example’spresenceanditsconclusionsuggest Since therecouldnothavebeenawomanintherelevantLiberalCabi- guments thatsatisfythefunction“ are thear- They is notsupposedtoinvolvemorethanoneexistingthing. must countasoneofthebook’s“obscurecorners”. tending his classes at Cambridge ( Cambridge at classes his tending 1918]: 284–303 [at 299]) suggests that Whiteh that suggests 1918]: 284–303[at299]) ... as puzzlers the hypotheticalmajestyof phi-x Later CostellorecalledRussell’ Harry the proofsofVolume1inspring 1910, contro reached” but “has reached”. Between drafti Types”, Shriek”, asin“E record apage.Theonlypetnamesthathavecomedowntousare“E reached theNorthPole”(1:73). the NorthPole,and Tradition hasitthatinlecturingon 41 40 39 Volume A passage in Broad’s “A General Nota General “A Broad’s in A passage Dr. Cook and Commander Peary are atopicalreferenceinwork that As H. When Russell wrote that sentence, in his his sentence,in WhenRussellwrotethat Wood,p.49. z z -caps , and so on, even up to the myst the soon,evenupto , and x T. Costello, in reviewing the of second reviewing edition T. Costello,in Papers z and x Journal ofPhilosophy M. She litmax ii 6:27)thatexplicatedthetheoryof R hasbutasinglehumorouspassage,thoughitisdoubly z -backward-arrows T z and z ! Principia er wrote the in a letter of 2 March 1911 to Russell, after at- er wrotethenamesinaletterof2March1911toRussell,after z The WitandHumourof ” and “ ” and multax Aleph-sub-zero z ' ’s textwasupdatedforthistopicalreference. on cell but saidofaninnovati s British pronunciation of ...’ z z 54 [1957]: 245–64 [at 255]). 54[1957]:245–64[at ! z ”, and“R.Hook”(“righthook”),for “ i z ” ( z , and , and : App. ra erious generalizationcalledthe W er to like thelanguage,withits to er Journal ofPhilosophy rm apossibly libellousjoke here. This 1 710). Russell’s teaching assistant at Harvard, at assistant teaching Russell’s 1 710). 39 tion for theLogicofRelations”( tion Apt fauna such as ahorse’shead,an as such Aptfauna existences-with-a-shriek x ˆ 40 ng thereplyinSeptember1909and passing . Wetriedcatchingoneanotheronsuch z isawhite man who claims tohave c versy aroseastowhet ead was theoriginator was ead It’s a pity he wasn’t asked to tape- to asked wasn’t he pity a It’s , 664)furtherenliventhebook. 1909 reply toPoincaré(“TheTheoryof 1909 reply Principia zz

types, he didn’t say “claims to have to types, hedidn’tsay“claims rnii ahmtc 159 Principia Mathematica ra Principia rec.acq.17c). e z :“ep-sigh-lon”(“LogicThen 25 [1928]: 438–45 [at 438–9]). 25 [1928]:438–45[at on thathedidn’t much like z Russell“inventedhis z , hadnonewpetnames z , and , and her Dr. Cook reached her Dr.Cook female of “shriek”. Russell of “shriek”. p z ’s and existences-upside- Mind z -relation PM q z ’s, andits z 27[July z 1:441) ' z , and ”. 41 C:\Users\Milt\WP data\TYPE3101\russellC:\Users\Milt\WP 31,1078red 002.wpd May 14, 2011 (10:00 am) from Russell’s “Props Where Used” index, WhereUsed” “Props from Russell’s at leastthreetimes”,andtheygiveallnumbers used is It useful. ally The authors’ completecommentis:“Theabovepropositionisoccasion- ethicist A. thepassage,althoughitseemsthat proof. Manyhavepointedout by theroleoftheory[inquestion]as Oxford: PrincetonU. P., 2000), p. 410. He in Grattan-Guinness 1 +=2isprovedat metical additionhasbeende comment,“Fromthispropositionitwillfollow,whenarith- authors entry with“1+  kenneth blackwell 160 Kevin Klement,GregoryLandini,Bern conclusion aboutlogicism,butwithanexpressionofrelief. moral upliftorevenanexplicit with not end, an Thus theworkcomesto but tediousifwrittenoutatlength. purely arithmeticallemmas,ofwhichth We havegivenproofsrathershortlyin to derivean Bloomsbury, 2009), pp. 184–5, and pp.184–5,and 2009), Bloomsbury, Hans Magnus Enzenberger(New York: HenryHolt, 2000), p. 227. from any page of from anypage stop with whatever formulahappenedtocomelast.” remarks,butjust concluding Lady Ottoline,that“weshouldhaveno the authorsplannedtoend and Russell saved it foralmostthelastpage.Wittgensteinhadaskedhow humour to the passage. It took 799 pages of the humour tothepassage.Ittook799pagesof Section of theAmericanPhilosophicalAssociation 110.643 The lastbitofwitin 47 46 45 44 43 42 RusselltoOttolineMorrell,no.427, A. The index excludes the proposition’s excludestheproposition’s Theindex Acknowledgements: Dennis Darland, Iv Darland, Acknowledgements:Dennis E.g. “It issurprising toreadsuchastat “It y I. Melden, “ for Acti for Melden,“Reasons I. d Logicomix wwww , CyclicFamilies,ofPart y I. Melden did not read this far. He wrote that it is asabsurd ought | c 1 = 2”, including the subscript.There’smeta- the including 2”, = 1

z , by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christ and , byApostolosDoxiadis . 1+ z Principia froman The SearchforMathematicalRoots,1870–1940  c 54.43, 1=2. Principia

is 44 Mathematica z “asitwouldbetotry squeeze out humor Principia W but that passage isn’t butthatpassage The NumberDevil:a ned, that1+=2”(1:362). on andMatters of Fact”, 46 ard Linsky andAlasdair Urquhart. z z 35 (1961–62): 45–60 (at 45–6). (at 35(1961–62):45–60 is so good that no wonder Whitehead wonder no that good so is atoolforuseintheVolume4tocome.” ement in the Bible of ”, comments oflogicism”, theBible ement in c vi mention explains itthus: “doubtless itwas motivated z this Section,particularlyinthecaseof . 30April1912. e proofsareperfectlystraightforward, , Quantity,withthissentence: . Russell reported his response to . Russellreportedhisresponse or Grattan-Guinness, Nicholas Gri or Grattan-Guinness,Nicholas .” 43 z inthesummaryat2:73. Itispopularlybelievedthat 42 os H. Papadimitriou(NewYork: os whereheannotatedthe W Mathematical Adventure rst editiontoreach this the Proceedings andAddresses 45 z proofbecausethe Theauthors end z (Princetonand 47 ( PM z 3:461) z U , by n,