External Relations: Russell, New Realism, and the Harvard School of Logic

Abstract

This paper reconstructs the development of the ‘Harvard school of logic’ (e.g., Josiah Royce, H. M. Sheffer, C. I. Lewis, A. N. Whitehead, Susanne Langer, and W. V. Quine), highlighting the impact of Bertrand Russell’s period at Harvard in the spring of 1914. I trace and contextualize Russell’s influence on Harvard’s Department of Philosophy and argue that he was the right person at the right time in more than one respect. The British philosopher visited his American colleagues when both Harvard idealists and ‘new realists’ had been exploring the philosophical implications of mathematical logic and when the department was seeking a new role model after William James’ death. My reconstruction is divided into two parts. The first sections sketch the U.S. philosophical landscape in the years before Russell’s visit. I examine the intellectual and institutional developments that created fertile ground for his “logical-analytic” approach, showing why both Royce and the new realists saw him as the ideal successor to James. The second part traces the impact of Russell’s visit on the department’s intellectual climate and hiring policy, reconstructing the growth of the Harvard school and its influence on America’s analytic turn in the subsequent decades.