Proof of an External World Imagery

Proof of an External World Imagery

Kant’s thoughts

The author using sight imagery, expresses Kant's thoughts about the existence of outside things. The author writes, "It seems clear from these words that Kant thought it a matter of some importance to give a proof of 'the existence of things outside of us' or perhaps rather (for it seems to be possible that the force of the German words is better rendered in this way) of 'the existence of the things outside of us'; for had he not thought it important that a proof should be given, he would scarcely have called it a 'scandal' that no proof had been given.”

The imagery of external things

Moore convinces readers using an insight eye to see the existence of external things so that he can prove his point. Moore says, “It would have sounded less odd if, instead of 'things outside of us,' I had said 'external things,' and perhaps also the meaning of this expression would have seemed to be clearer; and I think we make the meaning of 'external things' clearer still if we explain that philosophers have regularly used this phrase as short for 'things external to our minds.”

The imagery of the shadow

The shadow imagery cannot go unnoticed because it is proof that external matter exists. The author says, “From the proposition that there are plants or that plants exist, it follows that there are things to be met within space, from the proposition that shadows exist, it follows that there are things to be met within space, and so on, in the case of all the kinds of 'things' which I mentioned in my first list.”

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