mindindependent

Mind-independent refers to the aspect of reality that is not contingent on any mind's perception, belief, or conceptual framework. In philosophy it contrasts with mind-dependent properties, which depend on mental states to exist, such as sensations, beliefs, or linguistic practices. The distinction is central to realism and anti-realism and to debates about the nature of the external world.

Proponents of mind-independence argue that objects, events, and their relations exist whether or not anyone thinks about them. Examples include the mass of a rock, the orbit of a planet, or the causal structure posited by physical theory. By contrast, many philosophers hold that some properties—most famously color, taste, or beauty—are mind-dependent, either as subjective experiences or as indexical or culturally mediated phenomena. Others defend a form of mind-independent realism in which these properties correspond to objective facts about the world, or to mind-independent dispositions.

The status of abstract entities such as numbers or mathematical truths is similarly debated: platonists defend mind-independent abstract objects, while nominalists or conceptualists see them as human constructs or mental acts. Debates about morality also illustrate the issue: moral realism maintains that some values are mind-independent facts, whereas anti-realists view values as dependent on attitudes or social practices.

In science, the question of mind-independence underpins realism about unobservable entities and the interpretation of scientific theories; instrumentalists treat theories as tools for prediction without committing to mind-independent truth.

See also: realism, anti-realism, external world, objectivity, perception, epistemology.