Bradley, Irony, and Minimalist Metaphysics

Abstract This paper explores the metaphysical and metaphilosophical irony of the British philosopher F. H. Bradley (1846–1924). Using Richard Rorty's account of irony in Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, it advances a reading of Bradley's work as one in which he ironically plays absolute idealism, pragmatism, and skepticism off each other. It then develops an account of the deeper reason for such an ironic approach to metaphysics, namely, that Bradley aimed to secure both the autonomy of metaphysical inquiry against incursions by science, religion, and morality, and the limits of such inquiry against the more exuberant idealists of his generation.