Table Of Content

The Analysis of Matter ‘The whole book is candid and stimulating and, for both its subject and its treatment, one of the best that Mr. Russell has given us.’ The Times The Analysis of Matter is the product of thirty years of thinking by one of the twentieth century’s best-known philosophers. An inquiry into the philosophical foundations of physics, it was written against the background of stunning new developments in physics earlier in the century, above all relativity, as well as the excitement around quantum theory, which was just being developed. Concerned to place physics on a stable footing at a time of great theoretical change, Russell argues that the concept of matter itself can be replaced by a logical construction whose basic foundations are events. He is careful to point out that this does not prove that matter does not exist, but it does show that physicists can get on with their work without assuming that matter does exist. Russell argues that fundamental bits of “matter”, such as electrons and protons, are simply groups of events connected in a certain way and their properties are all that are required for physics. This Routledge Classics edition includes the 1992 Introduction by John G. Slater. Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) is regarded as one of the great- est philosophers of the twentieth century and a celebrated writer and commentator on social and political afairs. ‘Routledge Classics is more than just a collection of texts… it embodies and circulates challenging ideas and keeps vital debates current and alive.’ – Hilary Mantel The Routledge Classics series contains the very best of Rou- tledge’s publishing over the past century or so, books that have, by popular consent, become established as classics in their feld. Drawing on a fantastic heritage of innovative writing published by Routledge and its associated imprints, this series makes available in attractive, afordable form some of the most important works of modern times. For a complete list of titles visit: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Classics/ book-series/SE0585 Bertrand Russell The Analysis of Matter With the 1992 Introduction by John G. Slater London and New York Cover image: © Voyagerix / Getty Images First published in Routledge Classics 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd Introduction © 1992, 2022 John G. Slater The right of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First published 1927 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Reprinted 1992 by Routledge Reprinted 2007 by Spokesman British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-032-31268-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-31228-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-30889-8 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003308898 Typeset in Joanna by codeMantra Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE ROUTLEDGE CLASSICS EDITION IX PREFACE XV 1 The Nature of the Problem 1 PART 1: THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PHYSICS 11 2 Pre-Relativity Physics 13 3 Electrons and Protons 23 4 The Theory of Quanta 29 5 The Special Theory of Relativity 46 6 The General Theory of Relativity 53 7 The Method of Tensors 61 8 Geodesics 70 9 Invariants and Their Physical Interpretation 81 10 Weyl’s Theory 91 11 The Principle of Diferential Laws 97 viii CONTENTS 12 Measurement 105 13 Matter and Space 116 14 The Abstractness of Physics 125 PART 2: PHYSICS AND PERCEPTION 133 15 From Primitive Perception to Common Sense 135 16 From Common Sense to Physics 149 17 What is an Empirical Science 161 18 Our Knowledge of Particular Matters of Fact 169 19 Data, Inferences, Hypotheses, and Theories 177 20 The Causal Theory of Perception 185 21 Perception and Objectivity 203 22 The Belief in General Laws 213 23 Substance 221 24 Importance of Structure in Scientifc Inference 231 25 Perception From the Standpoint of Physics 238 26 Non-Mental Analogues to Perception 245 PART 3: THE STRUCTURE OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD 251 27 Particulars and Events 253 28 The Construction of Points 266 29 Space-Time Order 279 30 Causal Lines 289 31 Extrinsic Causal Laws 299 32 Physical and Perceptual Space-Time 307 33 Periodicity and Qualitative Series 316 34 Types of Physical Occurrences 327 35 Causality and Interval 338 36 The Genesis of Space-Time 347 37 Physics and Neutral Monism 353 38 Summary and Conclusion 364 INDEX 373 Introduction The Analysis of Matter is the product of thirty years of thinking. When Russell fnished his second book, An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry (1897), he turned his attention to the problem of the philosophical foundations of physics, which he usually referred to as “the problem of matter” or “matter” for short. At that time he had not yet freed him- self from the neo-Hegelianism he had been taught at Cambridge, so his frst efforts were squeezed into that philosophical position. When he published a sample of them in My Philosophical Development (1959), he judged them harshly: “On re-reading what I wrote about the philos- ophy of physics in the years 1896 to 1898, it seems to me complete nonsense, and I fnd it hard to imagine how I can ever have thought otherwise.” But not all of his thinking on the problem of matter was crippled by his philosophical position, for he was a trained mathem- atician and had read widely in scientifc textbooks. Examining the problem from the point of view of a scientist he concluded that he could make no progress on the problem of matter until mathematics had a frm foundation, so he resolved to solve that set of problems frst, confdent that it would take him only a very few years. In 1903 he offered the public a preliminary account in The Principles of Mathematics,