Abstract
T hus begins Bertrand Russell's Theory of Knowledge, the only book-length manuscript on philosophy which he left unpublished in his lifetime. While writing it in 1913 he came to the conclusion that it was fundamentally flawed, and never finished the work. Recent scholarshipl investigating Russell's correspondence from the period has established that Wittgenstein played a central role in causing Russell to abandon the work. While major flaws have been found in the Multiple-Relation Theory of Judgment which is central to the work (and which was abandoned by Russell with the book), I shall argue that an even greater reliance on acquaintance might have allowed Russell to meet some of the type-theoretiC quandaries in which his project got mired. While a definitive answer to why Russell quit writing Theory ofKnowledge is not yet available, I will argue that even though the possibility I outline in this paper was theoretically open to Russell, his logical intuitions and goals for his epistemological project prevented him from taking the opportunity.
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