[Revised entry by Harry Deutsch, Oliver Marshall, and Andrew David Irvine on December 18, 2024.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography, supplement.html]
Russell’s paradox is a contradiction – a logical impossibility – of concern to the foundations of set theory and logical reasoning generally. It was discovered by Bertrand Russell in or around 1901. In a letter to Gottlob Frege, Russell outlined the problem as it affects Frege’s major work Grundgesetze der Arithmetik. Frege responded with both dismay and admiration, and never recovered from the blow dealt to his life’s work. Russell was also alarmed by the extent to which the paradox threatened his own…

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