James and Bradley: American Truth and British Reality

William James (1842-1910) and Francis Herbert Bradley (1846-1924) were acknowledged as the leading American and British philosophers of their day. They never met, but corresponded, and commented upon each other's work. Although they are among the most influential and important philosophers of the past century, their major claims and arguments are often badly misunderstood and misinterpreted by philosophers. This comparative study aims to clarify their main claims and arguments, and to show that, while James' pragmatism and Bradley's monistic idealism are usually viewed as opposite extremes, their positions, in fact, display an intriguing mixture of affinities and contrasts, and are often derived from surprisingly similar premisses. They were also insightful critics of each other's work, James describing Bradley as "the bogey and bugbear" of most of his beliefs. Professor Sprigge examines and evaluates the views of each thinker on a large number of issues, including: the nature of truth; the logic of relations; personal identity; the place of consciousness in the world; monism and pluralism; God and the Absolute; and the experience and reality of time.