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The Problems of Philosophy · Chapter

On Intuitive Knowledge explained

Russell examines the nature of self-evident truths, distinguishing between general principles (like logic and induction) and truths of perception.

What happens

Russell examines the nature of self-evident truths, distinguishing between general principles (like logic and induction) and truths of perception. He argues that all knowledge ultimately rests on self-evident propositions that cannot be proven, and explores the degrees of self-evidence, particularly in memory and perception, noting that self-evidence varies in intensity and that the highest degree provides an infallible guarantee of truth.

Themes in this chapter

  • Knowledge and Certainty

    Central theme: Russell analyzes self-evidence as the foundation of knowledge, discussing its degrees and its relation to certainty in perception, memory, and logic.

  • Truth and Falsehood

    Explored through the distinction between sense-data (neither true nor false) and judgements about them, and through the problem of fallacious memory.

  • Appearance vs. Reality

    Implicit in the discussion of sense-data and perception: the patch of color exists as a sense-datum, but judgements about it may be true or false.

Characters to notice

  • Socrates

    Invoked as an insistent questioner who drives reasoning back to self-evident principles.

  • George IV

    Used as an example of fallacious memory: he came to believe he was at the Battle of Waterloo through repeated assertion, not genuine memory.

Key passages

  • “The actual sense-data are neither true nor false. A particular patch of colour which I see, for example, simply exists: it is not the sort of thing that is true or false.”

    Sense-data themselves, like a patch of color, just exist and are not the kind of thing that can be true or false.

    Russell distinguishes between the existence of sense-data and the truth of propositions about them.

  • “Thus the essence of memory is not constituted by the image, but by having immediately before the mind an object which is recognized as past.”

    Memory is not about having a mental image; it is about directly apprehending something as belonging to the past.

    Russell clarifies that memory involves a direct awareness of the past, not just a present image.

  • “Self-evidence has degrees: it is not a quality which is simply present or absent, but a quality which may be more or less present, in gradations ranging from absolute certainty down to an almost imperceptible faintness.”

    Self-evidence is not all-or-nothing; it comes in degrees, from absolute certainty to barely noticeable.

    Russell introduces the idea that self-evidence is a matter of degree, important for evaluating knowledge and error.

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