Abstract

G. E. Moore’s The Refutation of Idealism falls into two main parts: the analysis of “esse is percipi,” which Moore claimed was the key premise of all Idealist arguments to the conclusion that reality is spiritual; and the discussion of sensations. I am here only concerned with the latter. This, on its critical side, took a position of Bradley’s as its target and, in its turn, drew objections from Strong and Ducasse. The following explores these disputes about sensory experience which revolved around the second part of Moore’s Refutation.