If Bradley is a neglected philosopher, Bradley’s theory of signs is the most neglected part of his philosophy. There is no doubt that is has been overlooked in favour of the more famous doctrine of judgement, or in favour of the highly peculiar conception of thought, which notoriously entails its suicide. In this paper, I will claim that the latter are by and large a product of the former, which affects Bradley’s philosophy through to its end. Accordingly, I will not (...) attempt, unless incidentally, to compare Bradley’s theory with contemporary formulations, nor will I criticise it from external points of view; rather, I will focus on its internal weakness and try to understand what kinds of philosophical problems it raises. (shrink)

If Bradley is a neglected philosopher, Bradley’s theory of signs is the most neglected part of his philosophy. There is no doubt that is has been overlooked in favour of the more famous doctrine of judgement, or in favour of the highly peculiar conception of thought, which notoriously entails its suicide. In this paper, I will claim that the latter are by and large a product of the former, which affects Bradley’s philosophy through to its end. Accordingly, I will not (...) attempt, unless incidentally, to compare Bradley’s theory with contemporary formulations, nor will I criticise it from external points of view; rather, I will focus on its internal weakness and try to understand what kinds of philosophical problems it raises. (shrink)

T.S. Eliot, who went up to Oxford from America to write his doctoral dissertation, not only appreciated Bradley for his philosophical views, but perhaps even more for his prose, to the extent that he used to refer to the British philosopher as the ‘master of style’. The poet would have been surprised, and perhaps disappointed, to hear that such elegant writings are no longer available to the general public, confined as they are to antiquarian booksellers or philosophy libraries — and (...) sometimes not even to the latter. Indeed, it appears that what Eliot regarded as masterpieces of English prose have since turned into inaccessible and neglected texts. (shrink)