Shared Perceptions, Constructed Realities: How Vasubandhu’s Mind-Only Philosophy Challenges Realist Assumptions in Intersubjectivity

Vasubandhu's mind-only philosophy argues that shared perceptions do not require mind-independent objects, offering an alternative to realist accounts of intersubjectivity. Drawing on the Twenty Verses and responses to objections about spatial-temporal perception, intersubjectivity, and effective action, the paper defends a mental-constructivist account of reality. Modern examples like phantom limb pain, the rubber hand illusion, and mass hallucinations illustrate the mind's capacity to generate shared vivid experiences without external referents. Parallels with quantum physics, including the double-slit and Stern–Gerlach experiments, show that observation plays an active, constitutive role in shaping physical outcomes, suggesting consciousness may be fundamental to constructing shared reality.

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Abstract

In Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu’s Twenty Verses, Vasubandhu’s mind-only philosophy offers a compelling alternative to realist accounts of intersubjectivity by arguing that shared perceptions do not require the existence of mind-independent objects. Drawing on Vasubandhu’s Twenty Verses and his responses to objections regarding spatial-temporal perception, intersubjectivity, and effective action, this study defends the plausibility of a mental-constructivist account of reality. The argument is extended through modern examples such as phantom limb pain, the rubber hand illusion, and mass hallucinations, which reveal the mind’s capacity to generate shared and vivid experiences without external referents. Finally, the paper draws parallels with contemporary science: quantum physics, particularly the double-slit and Stern–Gerlach experiments, to demonstrate that observation plays an active, constitutive role in shaping physical outcomes. Quantum mechanics challenges classical realism in ways that strongly resonate with Vasubandhu’s ancient insights. Together, these philosophical and scientific perspectives suggest that consciousness may be fundamental to the construction of what we perceive as shared reality.