"Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?"

This episode gives Betrand Russell's answer to the question, laying out his theory of knowledge, with a chapter-by-chapter brief summary and overview of The Problems of Philosophy (1912).

(Spoilers: Yes, there is. But most if what we believe doesn't qualify.)

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy⁠

Russell believes we should study philosophy. But why?

Does philosophy make progress? Or is it practically useful?

Neither, instead it helps us to free our minds.

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy⁠

Can we figure out the nature of the universe with a priori reasoning?

What is the relationship between logic and metaphysics?

And, is Hegel right?

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy⁠

Before we can discuss what we can know, we first need a clear idea of what knowledge is.

True belief doesn't seem to be enough, but what kind of justification can definitely ground knowledge?

And what do we with cases where we can't be completely sure?

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy⁠

Before we can talk about what kinds of truths we can know, we first need to get clear on what truth is.

Russell sets out his versions of the correspondence theory of truth, by contrast with the coherence theory of truth.

A belief is true if it corresponds to some mind-independent fact.

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy⁠

Russell asks if we can always justify all our beliefs. What happens when we hit our most fundamental beliefs, which may be unjustifiable?

What is the nature of self-evident intuitive beliefs? How does it relate to perception, memory and logic? Can self-evident beliefs go wrong?

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy

Russell delves deeper into how we can know abstract general principles, and how these universals are related to the rest of our knowledge.

Finally, he gives a brief overview of his entire epistemology.

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy

We use talk and think about abstract general principles, like whiteness or justice, all the time.

Russell draws on Plato's Theory of Forms to investigate the metaphysical nature of these abstract called 'universals'.

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy

We appear to know some general principles, like induction, logic and pure maths, without needing empirical evidence. But how is a priori knowledge possible?

Russell critically examines Kant's epistemology, including the synthetic a priori.

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy

We all general principles of reasoning, like induction and the law of the excluded middle. But how should we think about those principles, and how do we justify their use?

You can join future live sessions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/philosophy