The Principle of Negation behind Bradley's Regress

Abstract Bradley is known for his infinite regress arguments against internal and external relations, commonly referred to as ‘Bradley's Regress.’ According to Bradley, relations cannot relate their relata, because relations interpose additional distinctions at each step of the regress, which widens the gap between the relata. It is argued here that this process ought to be understood in the context of what Bradley describes as ‘loosening’ the individual contents of experience from their context. This paper shows how the loosening involved in Bradley's Regress paraphrases the principle of determination through negation, omnis determinatio est negatio, that Hegel ascribes to Spinoza.