ABSTRACT

THE theory we have developed in the previous chapters satisfies the demands of both realism and idealism. Realism requires that the objects which we cognize in perception should be the things themselves, not mere ideas or ideal contents. We grant what realism wants by treating the predicate of the perceptive judgment, not as an idea, but as an object. We have not accepted subjective idealism even as a propaedeutic. From the very start our position is realistic. Bosanquet starts with subjective idealism. But if we once start with it, and regard what we perceive as a subjective idea, we can never arrive at the objective world. For no amount of ideas can make up a real thing.