May 18

Joseph Butler served as Bishop of Bristol and later as Bishop of Durham, making lasting contributions to theology and moral philosophy. His seminal work, 'The Analogy of Religion,' published in 1736, defended Christian faith against deist criticisms. Butler’s essays on human nature and conscience shaped Enlightenment debates on ethics. He combined logical rigor with accessible prose, influencing thinkers such as Hume and Kant. His legacy endures through his impact on Christian apologetics and philosophical theology.

Bertrand Russell, born in 1872, was a leading figure in analytic philosophy and made foundational contributions to logic, mathematics, and the philosophy of language. Co-authoring the landmark Principia Mathematica with Alfred North Whitehead, he sought to ground mathematics in logical principles. Russell's theory of descriptions revolutionized analytic philosophy, influencing generations of thinkers. Beyond academia, he was a vocal advocate for pacifism, nuclear disarmament, and social reform, campaigning against British involvement in World War I and nuclear weapons in the Cold War. In 1950, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his varied and significant writings. Russell's influence extends across multiple fields, from philosophy to political activism, until his death in 1970.

Born in 1891 in Germany, Rudolf Carnap studied under Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege, becoming one of the founders of the Vienna Circle. He advocated for the use of logic and empirical science in philosophy, rejecting metaphysics as meaningless. Carnap's works, including 'The Logical Structure of the World' and 'Logical Syntax of Language,' influenced analytic philosophy and the philosophy of science. In 1936, he emigrated to the United States to escape Nazi persecution, teaching at the University of Chicago and later at UCLA. He mentored generations of philosophers and contributed to discussions on probability, semantics, and the foundations of mathematics. Carnap died in 1970, remembered for his clarity of thought and lasting impact on philosophy.