Idealism

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What I mean by that is - �When we think of matter, we think of it as having existed long before there were any minds, and it is hard to think of it as a mere product of mental activity. But whether this true or false, idealism is not be dismissed as obviously absurd.
The grounds on which idealism is advocated are generally grounds which are derived from the theory of Knowledge. The first serious attempt to establish idealism on such grounds was that of Bishop Berkley. He proved first, by arguments which were largely valid, that our sense-data cannot be supposed to have an existence independent of us, but it must be, at least �in� the mind,
In the sense that their existence would not continue if there were no seeing or hearing or touching etc, etc. So far his contention is most certainly valid. Even if some of his arguments were not so.
He then proceeds to consider common objects, such as a Tree, for instance, he shows that all we know immediately when we ...

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