Minddependent

Mind-dependent is a term used in philosophy to describe properties, facts, or aspects of the world whose existence or characterization depends on minds, mental states, or social practices. In contrast, mind-independent properties are thought to obtain regardless of anyone’s beliefs, perceptions, or cultural conventions. The distinction helps articulate debates about objectivity and reality in areas such as perception, value, and meaning.

A common focus of mind-dependence is perceptual properties. For example, the way something looks in color, flavor, or smell can be influenced by a perceiver’s sensory apparatus, lighting, and context. Color can be argued to be a mind-dependent property of appearances rather than a fixed feature of objects themselves. This leaves room for disagreements about whether certain properties exist independently of observers or only as appearances to those observers. Other examples often discussed as mind-dependent include aesthetic judgments, tastes, and moral or normative judgments, which may vary across cultures or individuals.

Philosophical debates about mind-dependence often distinguish between strong and weak forms. Some argue that even seemingly objective properties are partly mind-dependent because their identification relies on human concepts, languages, or measurements. Others maintain that while appearances or reports may be mind-dependent, there is a robust mind-independent reality underneath that ground the phenomena we describe. The discussion interacts with issues in realism, relativism, epistemology, and the philosophy of science, highlighting how subjects like color, value, and meaning straddle the boundary between mind and world.

See also: mind-independence, realism, subjectivism, relational properties.