F. H. Bradley

Francis Herbert Bradley (30 January, 1846 – 18 September, 1924) was a British philosopher.

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30 January - 1846 - 18 September - 1924 - British - Philosopher

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He was born at Clapham, Surrey, England. He was the child of Charles Bradley, an evangelical preacher, and his second wife, Emma Linton. In 1865, he entered University College, Oxford.

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Clapham - Surrey - England - Evangelical - 1865 - University College - Oxford

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Bradley was a leading member of the movement known as British idealism, which was strongly influenced by German philosophers Kant and Hegel, and famous for his pluralistic approach to philosophy. His pluralistic outlook saw a unity transcending divisions between the philosophy of ethics, history, logic, epistemology, metaphysics and psychology.

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Movement - British idealism - Kant - Hegel - Pluralistic - Philosophy - Ethics - History - Logic - Epistemology - Metaphysics - Psychology

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One of Bradley's notable characteristics, in his writing, is his technique of arguing from the meaning of a word. In his concern with word meanings he might be seen as anticipating the more language-oriented philosophy of the 20th century.

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Word - Meaning - Language - 20th century

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Bradley was famously criticised in Alfred Jules Ayer's logical empiricist work, Language, Truth and Logic, for making statements that do not meet the requirements of positivist verification principle, e.g. statements such as "The Absolute enters into, but is itself incapable of, evolution."

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Alfred Jules Ayer - Language, Truth and Logic - Verification principle

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