Bradley and the Problematic Status of Metaphysics

Book excerpt: Bradley is a much neglected philosopher. The neglect is hardly justifiable, considering what Bradley actually wrote. However, the situation has improved in the last couple of decades, as there are signs of renewed interest in Bradley. Indeed, a basic consensus among Bradley scholars is the need for a reassessement of his philosophy and his place in the history of philosophy. In this interpretive and critical work, Ilodigwe undertakes an appraisal of Bradleyâ (TM)s philosophy. He argues that Bradleyâ (TM)s metaphysics of the absolute is the core of his philosophical system This means that we cannot understand Bradleyâ (TM)s philosophy unless we do justice to this aspect of his thought. Nor would it be possible to gain a full conspectus of the varied ramification of his thought if dissociated from the larger milieu relative to which they subsist and have their being. Unfortunately, much of the contemporary rejection of Bradleyâ (TM)s metaphysics is predicted on this sort of fragementary appreciation, as evidenced by Russell and Jamesâ (TM)s reception of Bradley. Bradley and the Problematic Status of Metaphysics tries to redress this imbalance. Ilodigwe here makes a case for a fundamental reassessment of Bradleyâ (TM)s philosophy by taking his account of the Absolute as point of reference for receiving other aspects of his thought. In keeping with this strategy, Part 1 and 2 focuses on a number of themes in Bradleyâ (TM)s philosophy such as his account of immediate experience, his theory of Judgement, his analysis of the essence of thought and his account of truth as appearance. In each case Ilodigwe shows how the themes illutrate a two-fold thesis that permeate Bradleyâ (TM)s thought: the claim as to the immanence of the Absolute in its appearances, and the further claim that the Absolute is irreducible to to any of its apperances. Part 3 relates Bradleyâ (TM)s philosophy to the situation of contemporary philosophy by assessing Russell and Jamesâ (TM)s appraisal of Bradley.