George Berkeley

Minds, Ideas and Matter

Philosopher’s Background
Born: March 12, 1685; near Thomastown, Ireland
Died: January 14, 1753
 Anglo-Irish Anglicanbishop, philosopher, and scientist, best known for his
empiricist and idealist philosophy, which holds that everything save the spiritual
exists only insofar as it isperceived by the senses.
 was one of the three most famous British Empiricists. (The other two are John
Locke and David Hume.) Berkeley is best known for his early works on vision
(An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, 1709) and metaphysics (A Treatise
concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, 1710; Three Dialogues between
Hylas and Philonous, 1713).

Berkeley’s Metaphysical System

Berkeley’s metaphysical system caters us the backbone of his philosophy.
Berkeley's famous principle is esse is percipi, to be is to be perceived. Berkeley was an
idealist. He held that ordinary objects are only collections of ideas, which are mind-
dependent. Berkeley was an immaterialist. He held that there are no material
substances. There are only finite mental substances and an infinite mental substance,
namely, God.
According to Berkeley, only minds and ideas exist. Matter does not exist. He
discusses this theory to be later referred to as “Subjective Idealism”. In his treatise- The
Principle of Human Knowledge”, we can discover His radical ontology which if
accepted resolves many philosophical paradoxes.
Berkeley begins the first part of his treatise by attacking the notion of material
substances. He said that all bodies are merely ideas. For example, we perceived a brown
legged table in a middle of a dining room. The qualities of the tables such us browness,
its size, its shapes and its numbers of legs are ideas that only exist within the mind.
Even if we grant that physical bodes exist outside of our minds, Berkeley concludes that
we are incapable of knowing that such bodies exist. To illustrate this, let us considered
dreams. While dreaming we see, hear, smell, taste and feel external objects that are not
actually there. If we perceive objects that are not actually there while we dream, then it
follows that our sensation while awake are not necessarily produced by external
physical objects. In that case, what produces the sensation we have of mountains, rivers
and tress if there are no external bodies?
Berkeley answers this question by investigating the nature of the mind. He states
that the minds can either actively create ideas or passively perceives ideas. But when we
open our eyes and viewed the world, we cannot choose to see or not see the brown four
legged table in our dining room. At that moment our mind passively perceived ideas.
Because Berkeley claims that there are no physical bodies, he concludes that there must
be another substance, spirit or mind that produces the idea of the table that we
perceived.
 Being the Bishop of the Church pf Ireland, Berkeley naturally identifies this
supreme spirit as the Christian God. Because God is infinitely wise, good and powerful,
He’s able to produce ideas that are more real than those were able to call forth in our
minds. Thus, Berkeley accounts the difference between reality and our dreams,
hallucinations and thoughts. Reality which is produced by God is more regular
consistent and vivid than ideas produced by us while dreaming, hallucinating and
reminiscing.
Berkeley believed that this theory has several beneficial consequences. It resolves
many philosophical paradoxes. For example, if Berkeley is correct that only minds and
ideas exist, then the questions whether material bodies can think. Whether the matter is
infinitely divisible? Can the material bodies and immaterial souls interact?---Those
questions that must to be diminished are non-sense because matter does not exist.
Although Berkeley’s immaterialism is initially repugnant to common sense, after
some reflections one finds that his argument is more resilient than first anticipated. At
the very least, Berkeley’s treatise deserved consideration rather than such disregard.
This treatise is highly recommended both believers and non-believers.

Submitted by:
Benjamin C. Francisco Jr
Stephen Sicat