Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous

Philonous, in Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, attacks Hylas arguments toward the distinction between primary and secondary qualities. The distinction between primary and secondary qualities is a peculiarity between qualities which depend for their existence on the relation between an object and a perceptual device. An example of this would be smell and color, which has properties that an object has independently of any perceiver. <Tab/>What objectively, with out …

…we have no reason to believe in the reality of mind autonomous material objects. He attempted to prove that we have no immediate perception of mind-independent material objects, so we have no source on which to assume the existence of mind-independent material objects from our instant experience. One can not imagine of primary qualities in objects totally separately of their secondary qualities. Therefore, primary qualities must exist in the mind, just as secondary qualities do.