This page intentionally left blank REALISM AND APPEARANCES An essay in ontology This book addresses one of the fundamental topics in philosophy: the relation between appearance and reality.John W.Yolton draws on a rich combination of historical and contemporary material, ranging from the early modern period to present-day debates, to examine this central philosophical preoccupation, which he pre- sents in terms of distinctions between phenomena and causes, causes and meaning, and persons and man. He explores in detail how Locke,Berkeley and Hume talk of appearances and their rela- tion to reality,and oVers illuminating connections and comparisons with the work of contemporary philosophers such as Paul Churchland and John McDowell.He concludes by oVering his own proposal for a “realism of appearance,” which incorporates ele- ments of both Humean and Kantian thinking.His important study will be of interest to a wide range of readers in the history of phi- losophy, the history of ideas, and contemporary philosophy of mind,epistemology and metaphysics. john w. yolton is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Philosophy,Rutgers University.He is the author of many publica- tions on John Locke and on the history of philosophy more gener- ally,most recently Perception and Reality:A History from Descartes to Kant (Cornell University Press,1996). REALISM AND APPEARANCES An essay in ontology JOHN W. YOLTON Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©John W. Yolton 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-03449-0 eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-77227-3 hardback ISBN 0-521-77660-0 paperback For Jean We shall have hereafter to enquire into the nature of appearance,but for the present we may keep a fast hold on this,the appearances exist.This is absolutely certain,and to deny it is nonsense.And what exists must belong to reality. F.H.Bradley,Appearance and Reality:A Metaphysical Essay,pp.131–2 ’Tis certain,that almost all mankind,and even philosophers themselves,for the greatest part of their lives,take their perceptions to be their only objects,and suppose,that the very being,which is intimately present to the mind,is the real body or material existence. Hume,A Treatise of Human Nature,p.206