Editing Absolute idealism (section)

==Absolute idealism in Britain==
{{also|British idealism}}
By the beginning of the 19th century, German idealist philosophy, particularly that of Kant, Hegel, and Fichte, was being read by British philosophers. Figures such as [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]], [[Thomas Carlyle]] and [[James Frederick Ferrier|J. F. Ferrier]] found in idealism an alternative and a response to the then-dominant empiricist views in Britain.<ref>William J. Mander, ''British Idealism: A History,'' Oxford University Press, 2011</ref> Early authors such as [[James Hutchison Stirling]] not only attempted to introduce German idealist thought to Britain, but sought to present their own version of absolute idealism in an English medium.<ref>''The Secret of Hegel'' (1st edition, 1865, in 2 vols.; revised edition, 1898, in 1 vol.)</ref> 

[[Edward Caird]] and [[T. H. Green]] were of the first generation of British idealists who took the work of Hegel and some of his successors and, from their positions as professors at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford, respectively, influenced generations of students. Absolute idealism was more fully developed in a second generation by their students, especially [[F. H. Bradley]] and [[Bernard Bosanquet (philosopher)|Bernard Bosanquet]]. Bradley's 1893 ''Appearance and Reality'' and Bosanquet's two volumes of Gifford lectures, ''The Principle of Individuality and Value'' (1912) and ''The Value and Destiny of the Individual'' were the most influential volumes of absolute idealism of the period. British absolute idealism had an influence not only within philosophy, but in theology, politics, and social and public policy.<ref>William Sweet, ''The Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy of British Idealism'', Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic, 2009.</ref> Moreover, many of the students of the idealists, in turn, introduced absolute idealism to [[Canadian idealism|Canada]], southern Africa, and India.{{cn|date=May 2025}}