Appearance and Reality is considered Bradley's most important book. According to
Ronald W. Clark, its publication helped to "wrest the philosophical initiative from the Continent." In 1894, the book was reviewed by
J. M. E. McTaggart in
Revue de métaphysique et de morale and
Josiah Royce in
The Philosophical Review. The book was an early influence on Bertrand Russell, encouraging him to question contemporary dogmas and beliefs. Russell recalled that
Appearance and Reality had a profound appeal not only to him but to most of his contemporaries, and that the philosopher
George Stout had stated that Bradley "had done as much as is humanly possible in
ontology." While Russell later rejected Bradley's views, he continued to regard
Appearance and Reality with "the greatest respect". The philosopher
Richard Wollheim comments that the second edition of
Appearance and Reality contains considerable new material, and should be consulted in preference to the original edition. According to the British philosopher
Timothy Sprigge, some of Bradley's arguments are famous. Sprigge suggests that Bradley's
absolute idealism in some respects received a better presentation in Bradley's subsequent work
Essays on Truth and Reality (1914) than in
Appearance and Reality. Thomas Mautner comments that Bradley's "bold metaphysics" is presented with "pugnacious verve". ==References==