“Please let me know whether it seems to you absurd or ridiculous to bring in necessity and contingency”
Dorothy Wrinch and Bertrand Russell on the Role of Logic in Our Knowledge of the External World
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v16i4.5806Abstract
In this paper, we will discuss Wrinch’s reflections on logic at the intersection among logic, epistemology and metaphysics. We will see, first, how Wrinch was a Russellian philosopher and scientist, as she explicitly believed in Russell’s logical-analytic method and in the “all-important” role Russell saw for logic in our knowledge of the external world. Second, we will see how Wrinch’s reflections also show us that, in 1918, one could endorse the Russellian overarching project as presented in Our Knowledge of the External World while holding that logic can provide us with kinds of pieces of knowledge of the external world that go beyond those Russell was happy to admit.
Downloads
References
Abir-Am, Pnina. 1987. “Synergy or Clash: Disciplinary and Marital Strategies in the Career of Mathematical Biologist Dorothy Wrinch.” In Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives, Women in Science 1789–1979, edited by Pnina Abir-Am and Dorinda Outram, 239–80. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Baldwin, Thomas. 2017. “Russell on Modality.” In The Actual and the Possible: Modality and Metaphysics in Modern Philosophy, edited by Mark Sinclair, 136–69. Mind Association Occasional Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Barker, Stephen F. 2006. “Lewis on Implication.” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 42 (1): 10–16. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/200085.
Blackwell, Kenneth. 1969. “Letter from Kenneth Blackwell to Dorothy Wrinch, 10^(th) January 1969.” In BRACERS #120897. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
Demos, Raphael. 1917. “A Discussion of a Certain Type of Negative Proposition.” Mind 26 (102): 188–96. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2248642.
Elkind, Landon D.C. 2019. “Russell’s Best Apprentice.” The Bertrand Russell Society Bulletin 160: 36–45. https://bertrandrussellsociety.org/bulletin-series/.
———. 2024. “‘I Like Her Very Much---She Has Very Good Brains.’: Dorothy Wrinch’s Influence on Bertrand Russell.” In Philosophical Women in Russell’s Circle, edited by Landon D.C. Elkind and Alexander Klein, 259–98. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Grattan-Guinness, Ivor. 2000. The Search for Mathematical Roots, 1870-1940. Logics, Set Theories and the Foundations of Mathematics from Cantor Through Russell to Gödel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lenzen, Victor F. 1971. “Letter from Victor Lenzen to Kenneth Blackwell, 20^(th) October 1971.” In BRACERS #121942. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
Lewis, C. I. 1912. “Implication and the Algebra of Logic.” Mind 21 (84): 522–31. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXI.84.522.
———. 1914. “The Calculus of Strict Implication.” Mind 23 (1): 240–47. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXIII.1.240.
Medawar, Peter Brian. 1957. The Uniqueness of the Individual. Routledge.
Morris, C. R., and Dorothy M. Wrinch. 1924. “Symposium: The Concept of Energy.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes 5, Philosophy and Metaphysics, 28–63. DOI: 10.1093/aristoteliansupp/5.1.28.
Nicholson, J. W., Dorothy M. Wrinch, F. A. Lindemann, and H. Wildon Carr. 1924. “Symposium: The Quantum Theory: How Far Does It Modify the Mathematical, the Physical and the Psychological Concepts of Continuity?” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes 4, Concepts of Continuity, 19--49. DOI: 10.1093/aristoteliansupp/4.1.19.
Passmore, J. A. 1976. “G. F. Stout’s Editorship of Mind (1892-1920).” Mind 85 (337): 17–36. DOI: 10.1093/mind/LXXXV.337.17.
Popper, Karl. 1981. “Obituary: Joseph Henry Woodger.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 32 (3): 328–30. DOI: 10.1093/bjps/32.3.328.
Russell, Bertrand. 1910. “Some Explanations in Reply to Mr. Bradley.” Mind 19 (1): 373–78. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XIX.1.373.
———. 1914. Our Knowledge of the External World. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company.
———. 1916. “Clifford Allen and Mr. Lloyd George.” The Tribunal, August 17.
———. 1918a. “Letter from Bertrand Russell to Frank Russell.” In Brixton Letter 51. BRACERS # 46930. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1918b. “Letter from Bertrand Russell to Gladys Rinder, 26^(th) August 1918, as Transcribed by Gladys Rinder as Part of "Extracts from Letters Written by the Hon. Bertrand Russell in Brixton Prison, August 1918.” In BRACERS #79641, The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1919. Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Saunders, L. P. 1917. “Mr. Russell’s Lowell Lectures.” Mind 24 (1): 29–52. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXVI.1.29.
Senechal, Marjorie. 2013. I Died for Beauty. Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 2024. “Dorothy Wrinch and the Man of the Century.” In Philosophical Women in Russell’s Circle, edited by Landon D.C. Elkind and Alexander Klein, 241–58. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Slater, John G. 1986. “Manuscript Notes [1918].” In The Philosophy of Logical Atomism and Other Essays, edited by John G. Slater, vol. 8, 8:247–51. The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. London and Boston: George Allen & Unwin.
Thompson, D’Arcy. 1924a. “Letter from D’Arcy Thompson to Dorothy Wrinch, 27^(th) September 1924.” In Folder: Thompson, D’Arcy, 1924, 1943, Box 5, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. 1924b. “Letter from D’Arcy Thompson to Dorothy Wrinch, 29^(th) October 1924.” In Folder: Thompson, D’Arcy, 1924, 1943, Box 5, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
Whitehead, A. N., and Bertrand Russell. 1910. Principia Mathematica. Vol. I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wrinch, Dorothy M. 1914. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell, 9^(th) September 1914.” In BRACERS #81956. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1916a. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell, 12^(th) May 1916.” In BRACERS #81958. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1916b. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to C. K. Ogden, December 1916 (?).” In Folder 12, Box 112, C. K. Ogden Papers. MacMaster University.
———. 1917. “Mr. Russell’s Lowell Lectures.” Mind 26 (1): 448–52. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXVI.1.448.
———. 1918a. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell, 20^(th) August 1918.” In BRACERS #81967. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1918b. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell, 23^(rd) August 1918.” In BRACERS #81968. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1918c. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell, August 1918.” In BRACERS #81966. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1918d. “Recent Work in Mathematical Logic.” The Monist 28 (4): 620–23. DOI: 10.5840/monist191828421.
———. 1919a. “Cause and Effect.” The Monist 29 (3): 468–74. DOI: 10.5840/monist19192934.
———. 1919b. “Existence.” The Monist 29 (1): 141–45. DOI: 10.5840/monist191929116.
———. 1919c. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to Bertrand Russell.” In BRACERS #81972. The Bertrand Russell Archives. MacMaster University.
———. 1919d. “On the Nature of Judgment.” Mind 28 (3): 319–29. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXVIII.3.319.
———. 1920–1921. “On the Structure of Scientific Inquiry.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 21: 181–210. DOI: 10.1093/aristotelian/21.1.181.
———. 1922a. “On Certain Methodological Aspects of the Theory of Relativity.” Mind 31 (122): 200–04. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXXI.122.200.
———. 1922b. “The Theory of Relativity in Relation to Scientific Method.” Nature 109 (2734): 381–82. DOI: 10.1038/109381a0.
———. 1923. “On Certain Aspects of Scientific Thought.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 24: 37–54. DOI: 10.1093/aristotelian/24.1.37.
———. 1924. “Letter from Dorothy Wrinch to D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, 28^(th) August 1924.” In MS 24450, Papers of D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. University of St Andrews.
———. 1925. “Reviewed Work(s): Die Mathemathische Methode, by O. Hölder.” Mind 34 (136): 507–08. DOI: 10.1093/mind/XXXIV.136.507.
———. 1926–1927. “Scientific Methodology with Special Reference to Electron Theory.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 27: 41–60. DOI: 10.1093/aristotelian/27.1.41.
———. 1929a. “Aspects of Scientific Method: With Special Reference to Schrödinger’s Wave Mechanics.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 29: 95–122. DOI: 10.1093/aristotelian/29.1.95.
———. 1929b. “Scientific Method in Some Embryonic Sciences.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 30: 229–42. DOI: 10.1093/aristotelian/30.1.229.
———. 1930a. “Application for the Rockefeller Fellowship.” In Folder 5: Applications and Correspondence, Rockefeller Foundation Grant and Rhodes Travelling Fellowship 1930, Box 8, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. 1930b. The Retreat from Parenthood. London: Kegan Paul. Published under the pseudonym 'Jean Ayling'.
———. 1941. “This Letter Provokes the Following Comments ...” In Folder 3: Job Hunting 1940-41, Box 7, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. 1943. “Reviewed Work(s): Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson.” Isis 34 (3): 232–34. DOI: 10.1086/347814.
———. 1954. “Note, 12^(th) April 1954.” In Folder 12: Personal Notes, 1933-35, 1954-56, 1961-64, Undated, Box 1, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. 1963. “Note, 25^(th) March 1963.” In Folder 12: Personal Notes, 1933-35, 1954-56, 1961-64, Undated, Box 1, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. n.d.-a. “Take 2 ...” In Folder 2: Clippings, Reprints, Miscellaneous Notes, 1938-47, Undated, Box 28, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. n.d.-b. “The Geometrical Attack on the Structural Problems of Biology.” In Folder 3: Miscellaneous Technical Writings, 1936-65, Undated, Box 12, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
———. n.d.-c. “The Protein Molecule.” In Folder 3: Miscellaneous Technical Writings, 1936-65, Undated, Box 12, Dorothy Wrinch Papers. Smith College.
Wrinch, Dorothy M., and Harold Jeffreys. 1921. “On Certain Fundamental Principles of Scientific Inquiry.” The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 42 (249): 369–90. DOI: 10.1080/14786442108633773.
Published
Issue
Section
License
The Public Knowledge Project recommends the use of the Creative Commons license. The Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy requires authors to agree to a Creative Commons Attribution /Non-commercial license. Authors who publish with the Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC license.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.