PEIRCE ON BEATING THE IDEALISTS

CP 138. "Obviously, then, the first move toward beating idealism at its own game is to remark that we apprehend our own ideas only as flowing in time, and since neither the future nor the past, however near they may be, is present, there is as much difficulty in conceiving our perception of what passes within us as in conceiving external perception. If so, replies the idealist, instead of giving up idealism we must go still further to nihilism. Kant does not notice this retort; but it is clear from his footnote that he would have said: Not so; for it is impossible we should so much as think we think in time unless we do think in time; or rather, dismissing blind impossibility, the mere imagination of time is a clear perception of the past. Hamilton †1 stupidly objects to Reid's phrase "immediate memory"; but an immediate, intuitive consciousness of time clearly exists wherever time exists. But once grant immediate knowledge in time, and what becomes of the idealist theory that we immediately know only the present? For the present can contain no time."

Do you not love Peirce's mind. I am sure that he might now move to my position born of his thought. Peirce is no more a Realist than an Idealist for both sides are true and all is One. But I am jumping ahead.

I am not even going to comment further. It is too wonderful as it is to sully it with boring non sequiturs. We are not talking paradox here. We are not letting any side of any binary contention stand alone. That is among the geniuses of triadic philosophy. There are many others including the acceptance of what we call autism.