1846 – 1924
Francis Herbert Bradley was a British idealist philosopher and the most influential figure of late 19th-century British Absolute Idealism. His metaphysics argued that reality is a single, unified Absolute, and that relations between things generate contradictions when treated as ultimately real.
Developed Bradley's regress, a foundational argument against the reality of relations
Authored Appearance and Reality (1893), the central text of British Absolute Idealism
Wrote Ethical Studies (1876), critiquing utilitarianism and defending self-realization ethics
Advanced the coherence theory of truth
Shaped early analytic philosophy by provoking the anti-idealist reactions of Russell and Moore