The Case for Idealism

To argue against physical realism and develop and defend phenomenalism, which claims that ultimate reality is wholly non-physical, the author sets out to establish that the physical world is the logical creation of the natural (non-logical) constraints on human sense-experience. This phenomenalist perspective assumes that there is some form of time in which human experience occurs but which is logically prior to the physical world, and Foster explores in detail the nature of this pre-physical time and its relation to time as a framework for physical events.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 318 pages
Publication date: 12 April 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Originally published in 1982, this book aims to refute physical realism and develop and defend a version of phenomenalism. Physical realism, as defined here, asserts that the physical world, or a specific portion of it, is an ingredient of ultimate reality, where ultimate reality encompasses all entities and facts that are not logically sustained by anything else. In challenging physical realism, the author endeavors to establish that ultimate reality is entirely non-physical.

The key elements in this argument revolve around the topic-neutrality of physical description and the relationship between physical geometry and natural law.

John Foster's version of phenomenalism emerges from this refutation of physical realism. Its central claim is that the physical world is the logical creation of the natural (non-logical) constraints on human sense-experience. This phenomenalist perspective assumes the existence of a time in which human experience occurs, but which is logically prior to the physical world. Foster delves into the nature of this pre-physical time and its relationship to time as a framework for physical events.

This book made a significant contribution to contemporary philosophical thinking at the time.

Weight: 600g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367720421