The experience of the absolute: a defense of F.H. Bradley's philosophy of experience against William James' criticisms

Barbour, Kyle (2019) The experience of the absolute: a defense of F.H. Bradley's philosophy of experience against William James' criticisms. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis addresses the debate between two of the most important philosophers at the turn of the 20th century: F.H. Bradley and William James. Their debate centered around the priority that each philosopher assigned to experience in terms of a starting point for metaphysical inquiry and the subsequent understanding of logical relations which each philosopher developed based upon their conception of experience. This thesis will consider James’ “radical empiricism” as a response and critique of Bradley’s philosophy. As such, through an investigation of each philosopher, this thesis will argue that James’ critique of Bradley is flawed due to his misreading of Bradley’s philosophy and will conclude that Bradley’s philosophy holds the potential to answer the difficulties found within James’ radical empiricism and, though it contains undeniable flaws of its own, holds within it the seeds for future philosophical development that exceeds Bradley and James’ debate.

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