Dr. King and Bertrand Russell

Famous Thinkers PHL/458 March 19, 2012 Creative ideas are the foundation of the creative process (Goodman & Fritchie, 2011). To change the way a person thinks about an issue, or to find a solution to the problem is what many of the ideas revolve around. The level of greatness that each thinker is famous for is acquired throughout their life. There are a few things that all famous thinkers have similarities in that allow them to hold the position a â€Å"famous thinker. † Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 3, 1929) and Bertrand Russell (May 18, 1872-February 2, 1970) are two famous thinkers that are discussed in this paper.Each of these men changed the way people viewed the issues of the day through the creative process. King and Russell made identifiable contributions to society during an era of difficult social times. The subject matter of this paper will investigate dilemmas or ideas that both of these famous thinkers sought to resolve, and the solutions they came up with for accomplishments. The ideas in conjunction with obstacles from people challenging the change, and a lot of the solutions were in a constant state of improvement.However; each one of their individual solutions all met the test of logic, allowing them to conquer the battles and opposition to resolutions. The thought process of these two men required a substantial amount of time to change the way people think, and developed an outcome of their individual issues for a better cause. King believed in defending the inequality and unjust segregation of man. Russell beliefs lied in the revolt against idealism and analytical philosophy. The two of these men evaluated a problem in special manner to locate distinctive perspectives that no one else had visited.King and Russell both had patience to visualize their ideas and produce solutions to defeat the opposition. Changing the outlook that America had about equality and gaining civil rights for African Americans was the c ontribution to society that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave. He not only had a vision but Dr. King also had a â€Å"dream† that we would live in a nation where â€Å"†¦we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character† (King, 1963). Dr. King vision actually challenged America to reevaluate and increase their alue structure to include the embracing diversity. Over the course of Bertrand Russell’s long career, he made significant contributions, not just to logic and philosophy, but to a broad range of subjects including education, history, political theory, and religious studies. In addition, many of his writings on a variety of topics in both the sciences and the humanities have influenced generations of general readers (Irvine, 2010). Dr. King was brought up during a time when there were around many social and political issues that consisted of inequality, racial tension, and oppression.Although he was around these negativi ties, he used positive influences to assist with establishing the required changes to right the wrongs of oppression. According to the King Center, although Dr. King experience racism at a young age and knew of the possible dangers he faced he still continued on his path. However, the dangers only required Dr. King to be more creative in obtaining civil rights and equality. The social and political environment surrounding politics and education influenced Bertrand Russell’s philosophical views.Not only was Russell’s socially active against the war, but he also was a very candid supporter of nuclear proliferation. In 1954 he worked with Albert Einstein and they released the Russell –Einstein Manifesto calling for the curtailment of nuclear weapons (Irvine, 2010). Eventually Russell’s anti-war protest landed him in prison and convictions, which led to him missing out on various teaching opportunities at different colleges. He strived to understand everyone in conjunction with his social philosophy; understanding nature. Dr.King was faced with many obstacles and his goal was to solve that of racism (animosity toward other races) and the injustice of inequality associated with it. This meant appealing to the principle of democracy and making the political system accountable. Mr. Russell’s problem he wanted to solve is the use of a logical analytical approach to determine the truth about common claims based on inference. This implies that every truth or claim should be the foundation of the logical constructions versus inferred entities. In order to offset the immoral acts of racism and segregation Dr.King’s resolution to the problem was advocating civil disobedience among African Americans. His philosophy maintained that it is the responsibility of each individual to disobey unjust laws (Ware, 2009). He had faith that integration was the solution to gaining equality, and he upheld a non-violent policy to achieve his goal. His non-violent policy was based on the belief that the battle against segregation should be fought in a courtroom instead of the street (Ware, 2009). Introducing a distinction between two unlike styles of knowledge of truth was Russell’s solution to his problem.Being direct, infallible, and certain is the first truth style and the second is open to error, indirect, and uncertain. He gave a good explanation for his position by proving that it is essential that indirect knowledge stand up to more fundamental or direct knowledge. Basically stating that theory alone does not show facts and you must have provable facts or direct knowledge. Dr. King’s mission for equal rights was his idea that everyone would stick to a nonviolent policy that encourages civil disobedience, and this assumption could have held him back.To request nonviolence under the circumstances of extreme adversity and ridicule requires a great deal of courage, discipline, and strength. Upon realizing this he revised his solution to reflect a peaceful demonstration in main parts of the country, and that helped to prove his reasons as morally correct. The moral scheme behind his cause and the conviction that this element would improve humanity shows that his solution met â€Å"the test of logic. † Even with his methods were different he still overcame opposition to his solutions.Eventually the methods were extensively accepted and implemented by his followers. Dr. Kings remained true to himself, his beliefs and most importantly his vision. He was profound, he believed in democracy and the persistence to accomplish goals of the civil rights. Dr. King was far from profane; he stood on the crest of ethics. Bertrand Russell’s idea that everyone would be believe all of his theories regarding realism and be as passionate about it was an assumption that could have inhibited his process.In the early part of the 1900’s the views concerning the truth, based on traditional v iewpoints was very real. He perfected his solution by utilizing analytical reasoning and logic to establish the direct relationship between direct knowledge and inferred knowledge. His resolution met the â€Å"test of knowledge† since it was provable and reasonable. By recognizing the myth of accepting a claim without realistic proof to back it up, he utilized the method of teaching and writing educational books to apply his solution.The creative process was used by both of the famous thinkers in this paper to identify a problem and to create the solutions to address the issues of their time. To be accepted by society the creative ideas that were used to resolve the issues had to be refined frequently and the perspectives in which they were viewed had to be distinctive in order to meet the test of logic. References Goodman, M. and Fritichie, L. L. (2011). Thinking like a genius. Study Guides and Strategies. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from: http://www. studygs. net/genius2. tm I rvine, A. D. (2010). Bertrand Russell. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/russell/ The King Center (na) (2012). The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from: http://www. thekingcenter. org Ware, C. (2009, January 19). Martin Luther King and civil disobedience and nonviolence. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/1383676/martin_luther_king_and_civil_disobedience. html? cat=37