Customer Reviews

Writings on Logic and Metaphysics

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F.H. Bradley was one of the most influential thinkers of the
late-nineteenth century, yet his work has been largely
ignored during this century (a shame, as his metaphysics
should be of interest to anyone coming to grips with quantum
physics). Allard and Stock have done an excellent job of
knitting together the most important sections of Bradley's
key writings. They add their own commentary only when
necessary to bring ideas together and clarify certain
difficult points. The result is everything you need to get a
firm grasp of the philosophy of this important thinker.

As Bradley's _Principles of Logic_ and _Appearance And Reality_ are out of print and likely to remain so (except as portions of expensive "collected works" sets), Allard and Stock deserve thunderous applause for making this collection of well-chosen excerpts available.

Bradley and Idealism generally have been too much neglected during most of this century as speculative metaphysics has fallen out of fashion. But the heart of Idealism is simply, as Bradley once put it, that what satisfies the intellect is both true and real. In this sense, Idealism is as old as Parmenides and need not commit one to the belief that reality itself is basically mental (though Bradley himself thought so). What it really requires is that there be no artificial divorce between the knowing mind and the reality it is seeking to know: the real is ultimately intelligible, and what is ultimately intelligible is real.

Bradley was a seminal thinker in this tradition, and his insights are very often duplicated by later thinkers who do not know how much ground he had already broken. In this volume, key excerpts from all of Bradley's writings on logic and metaphysics are assembled and introduced.

Also of interest to readers of this volume will be the works of British Idealist Bernard Bosanquet and American rationalist Brand Blanshard. Search Amazon for their names as well.

F.H. Bradley was one of the most influential thinkers of the
late-nineteenth century, yet his work has been largely
ignored during this century (a shame, as his metaphysics
should be of interest to anyone coming to grips with quantum
physics). Allard and Stock have done an excellent job of
knitting together the most important sections of Bradley's
key writings. They add their own commentary only when
necessary to bring ideas together and clarify certain
difficult points. The result is everything you need to get a
firm grasp of the philosophy of this important thinker.