Prologue

Abstract

Abstract “Idealism” is a contested term in philosophy. Any attempt to debate whether a particular view is “idealist” can be hampered by a lack of understanding regarding what that term really means. To alleviate this problem, Embodied Idealism opens with a chapter that defines “idealism” and “transcendental idealism” in a way that guides the rest of the book. First, “idealism” is defined in relation to some common definitions and via a critique of the standard distinction between “ontological idealism” and “epistemological idealism.” Then “transcendental idealism” is defined through a brief consideration of the views of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl. Ultimately, transcendental idealism is found to rest on two connected theses: the thesis of transcendental perspectivism, and the thesis of transcendental structural analysis.