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In some varieties of philosophy, The Absolute describes an ultimate being; the Absolute is the whole of things, all that is. It is usually conceived of as unitary, as spiritual, as conscious — at least insofar as it can be acknowledged by the human mind — and as intelligible. It contrasts with finite things, considered individually. The concept of the Absolute was introduced into philosophy by Hegel, Schelling, and their followers; it is associated with various forms of philosophical idealism. The Absolute, either under that name, or as the "Ground of Being," the "Uncaused First Cause," or some similar concept, also figures in several of the attempted proofs of the existence of God, particularly the ontological argument and the cosmological argument.
The concept was adopted into neo-Hegelian British idealism (though without Hegel's complex logical and dialectical apparatus), where it received an almost mystical exposition at the hands of F.H. Bradley. Bradley (followed by others including Timothy L.S. SpriggeTimothy L. Sprigge (1932- ) is a British idealist philosopher who has spent most of his career at the University of Edinburgh. Long concerned with the nature of experience and the relation between mind and reality, Sprigge was the philosopher who first po) conceived the Absolute as a single all-encompassing experience, rather along the lines of Shankara and advaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita''. Advaita literally means "not two", and is often called a monistic or non-dualistic system which essentially refers to the indivis. Likewise, Josiah RoyceJosiah Royce ( 1855- 11-20 1916- 09-14) was an American objective idealist philosopher. Royce was born in Grass Valley, California, studied philosophy at Johns Hopkins University under Charles Peirce, and taught it at Harvard. His key works include The Re in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in conceived the Absolute as a unitary Knower Whose experience constitutes what we know as the "external" world.
The concept need not be taken to imply a universal unitary consciousness, however. American philosopher Brand BlanshardBrand Blanshard ( 1892- 1987) was an American philosopher known primarily for his defense of reason. A powerful polemicist, by all accounts he comported himself with courtesy and grace in philosophical controversies and exemplified the "rational temper" h, for example, conceived the Absolute as a single overarching intelligible system but declined to characterize it in terms of consciousness or experience.
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The Absolute should not be confused with Absolut, a brand of vodka.
