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Ele Willoughby, PhD

Happy birthday to Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) who, amongst other things speculated about a teapot orbiting in space.

This lino block print of Russell's Teapot is part of my series of Imaginary Friends of Science of charismatic thought experiments. In this case, the alledged china teapot, in orbit between Earth and Mars is an analogy….

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A Russell’s Teapot linocut print in blue and black in on a white Japanese washi paper with a subtle pattern in the palest blue. There’s a corner of Earth on the right lower corner, in blue with swirling clouds. Then the starry black space with two dotted arcs to indicate orbits of the small red dot of Mars at the top left and the enlarged image of the china teapot in blue and white in the middle, in a circle to show it’s been enlarged so we can see it. At the top, text is carved in white: RUSSELL’S TEAPOT. At the bottom are a series of symbols for the bodies in the solar system, from left to right: Sun (dot in circle), Mercury (circle with horns on cross), Venus (woman symbol, circle over cross like modified ankh), Earth (cross within circle), stylized teapot, Mars (circle with diagonal arrow going to top right), Jupiter (like a stylized 2 with a vertical slash through horizontal line), Saturn (like a stylized h with a bar on top), Uranus (circle with vertical arrow), Neptune (trident).
Ele Willoughby, PhD

by philosopher Bertrand Russell to make the case that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making unfalsifiable claims, rather than shifting the burden of disproof to others. ⠀

Russel used the teapot in arguments against religion but it could be used against any dubious, outrageous claim, offered without proof.

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May 18, 2023, 01:01 PM·Public
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Ele Willoughby, PhD

He wrote, "nobody can prove that there is not between the Earth and Mars a china teapot revolving in an elliptical orbit, but nobody thinks this sufficiently likely to be taken into account in practice."⠀
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Other prints in my Imaginary Friends of Sciene include;⠀
Maxwell's Demon, Descartes' Demon, Laplace's Demon, Schroedinger's Cat, The Spherical Cow, Occam's Razor, Lyell’s Amphibious Beast, and Turtles, all the way down.⠀

etsy.com/ca/listing/919881895/

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www.etsy.comRussell's Teapot Lino Block Print Handmade Print About - Etsy CanadaThis Wood & Linocut Prints item by minouette has 22 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Canada. Listed on 23 Mar, 2023
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