Neither can it be denied that this tulip may exist independent of your mind or mine; but, that any immediate object of the senses, -- that is, any idea, or combination of ideas -- should exist in an unthinking substance, or exterior to minds, is in itself an evident contradiction. Nor can I imagine how this follows from what you said just now, to wit, that the red and yellow were on the tulip , since you do not pretend to that unthinking substance. . You have an artful way, Philonous, of diverting our inquiry from the subject. . I see you have no mind to be pressed that way. To return then to your distinction between and