Mind: A Brief Introduction (John R. Searle) / quote 17 of 138
Bodies known only by inference from ideas
Bodies, on the other hand, cannot be known directly but only indirectly by inferring their existence and features from the contents of the mind. I do not directly perceive the table in front of me; but, strictly speaking, I perceive only my conscious experience of the table, my “idea” of the table; and I infer the existence of the table from the presence of the idea. My present idea of the table is not caused by me, so I have to assume that it is caused by the table.