
624
World Championship Philosophy

Russell's Paradox is the idea that in set theory, the "set of all sets that do not contain themselves" must both contain itself and not contain itself.
In 1901 Bertrand Russell and Gotlobb Frege were two of the most important philosophers in the world (welterweight division). Both Frege and Russell were attempting to reduce things like mathematics to pure logic, to form a solid logical base upon which to build back all of philosophy. Upon discovering the paradox, Russell more or less undermined the logicist project, destroy years of both their work, and although solutions have been proposed, the project as a whole never really recovered.
Russell's Paradox is the idea that in set theory, the "set of all sets that do not contain themselves" must both contain itself and not contain itself.
In 1901 Bertrand Russell and Gotlobb Frege were two of the most important philosophers in the world (welterweight division). Both Frege and Russell were attempting to reduce things like mathematics to pure logic, to form a solid logical base upon which to build back all of philosophy. Upon discovering the paradox, Russell more or less undermined the logicist project, destroy years of both their work, and although solutions have been proposed, the project as a whole never really recovered.
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