Abstract

According to a well-known interpretation, Bradley's monism is grounded upon the so-called "axiom of internal relations", whose falsity is supposed to have been shown by criticisms urged by Russell. In the first half of this paper, a sketch of Bradley's position is provided, it is shown here that his doctrine as to the nature of relations is much more complex than the traditional interpretation may lead one to believe, for it consists of (at least) four main theses: 1) the belief in the holistic nature of relations, 2) the belief in the unreality of relations, 3) the belief that all relations are self-contradictory and 4) the belief that all relations are internal. In the second part of the paper, the debate between Russell and Bradley is taken under examination. This debate is highly interesting for it shows on the one side that in his criticism of Bradley Russell is guilty of the fallacy known as "ignoratio elenchi", on the other that Bradley's views as to relations were such as to raise a very serious challenge to Russell's own realism and to the notions of analysis and knowledge associated with it.