Bertrand Russell and the Nature of Propositions

Samuel Lebens is a Senior Research Fellow in the Philosophy Department at the University of Haifa, Israel.

• 1. Framing Our QuestionPart I: The Philosophical and Historical Background2. Russell and Moore in Rebellion3. Incomplete Symbols4. Semantics, Assertion and the Theory of DescriptionsPart II: The Rise and Fall of the MRTJ5. The Rise of the MRTJ6. The Stoutian Evolution of the MRTJ7. The Demise of the MRTJPart III: Resurrecting the MRTJ8. Significance and Representation9. Molecular Proposition10. Explaining of Explanada11. The MRTJ and its Competitors

"Samuel Lebens' book is a lively and full-throated defense of the multiple relation theory . . . His book is the best attempt I have seen at a comprehensive historical study of the multiple relation theory . . . The historical parts of the book are well argued and illuminating, but these issues are not Lebens' main concern. His primary aim is to revitalize the multiple relation theory and make it a contender in contemporary debates about the nature of propositions." – Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"The book is well written. It gives clear arguments. It interweaves seamlessly historical and ongoing controversies within unified narratives. For these reasons a close study of Lebens’ book will richly reward scholars interested either in Russell’s MRTJ or in the metaphysics of meaning . . . In summary, Lebens has demonstrated that more remains to be said about the MRTJ, and he convincingly argues that MRTJ (in some form) was buried before it was dead, even, arguably, by Russell himself." – Landon D. C. Elkind in Russell Studies"Lebens’s book makes an interesting, original, and accessible contribution both to Russell scholarship, and to current debates in the philosophy of language. It fills an important lacuna within the scholarly literature on Russell’s MRTJ, and does so admirably." – James Connelly, Trent University, Canada