Idealist Philosophy

Abstract

The paper expounds an idealist ontology stating that only conscious experience in the Now is real. This challenges the currently dominant materialist ontology in the natural sciences, but maintains the general methodological presupposition that all scientific research - materialist, idealist, or dualist - rests on empirical observations from which concepts and theories are derived. A number of time studies and psychological experiments indicate that the psychological Now is experienced with a certain temporal extension and therefore differs from the physical moment or point of time, which is regarded as infinitesimal with zero duration. Based on the psychological Now the ontology of consciousness, nature, history, worlds without an ego, and worlds comprising spiritual experiences is formulated. Idealist philosophies (idealism) have been criticized for implying solipsism or "solipsism of the present moment". This critique is countered by introducing the concepts of collective conscious experience and collective conscious experience across time. The idealist approach leads to a coherent comprehension of natural science including mind-brain relations and also facilitates cross-cultural studies and the understanding of intersubjectivity.