MR. BALFOUR'S REFUTATION OF IDEALISM

The Refutation of Idealism

Modern Idealism, if it asserts any general conclusion about the universe at all, asserts that it is spiritual. There are two points about this assertion to which I wish to call attention. These points are that, whatever be its exact meaning, it is certainly meant to assert (1) that the universe is very different indeed from what it seems, and (2) that it has quite a large number of properties w...

e role of Kant’s Refutation of Idealism

Causal Refutations of Idealism

In the ‘Refutation of Idealism’ chapter of the first ‘Critique’, Kant argues that the conditions required for having certain kinds of mental episodes are sufficient to guarantee that there are ‘objects in space’ outside us. A perennially influential way of reading this compressed argument is as a kind of causal inference: in order for us to make justified judgements about the order of our inner...

Idealism and Pragmatism

1. The Problem I begin with a gloomy observation on monastic education by Phra Prayud Payutto (1939) of Thailan whom Tambiah calls "a brilliant scholar-monk" [1]. Payutto said in 1984: "The present state of m education is similar to a sky which has some spots of sunshine, but is in fact full of cloud. The sky is n clear. When monks themselves see the dull and overcast sky they may feel disheart...

Idealism in Yogācāra Buddhism

In the last fifty years or so, since Yogācāra texts have been available to western academics, there has been a debate as to how Yogācāra Buddhism should be interpreted. This article seeks to establish that Yogācāra Buddhism is most properly interpreted as an idealist school of Buddhist thought. Specifically, it challenges the arguments that have been put forth in recent years that suggest a phe...