Berkeley S Metaphysics

Author : John Russell Roberts
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2007-05-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0198042833

Get Book

A Metaphysics for the Mob by John Russell Roberts Pdf

George Berkeley notoriously claimed that his immaterialist metaphysics was not only consistent with common sense but that it was also integral to its defense. Roberts argues that understanding the basic connection between Berkeley's philosophy and common sense requires that we develop a better understanding of the four principle components of Berkeley's positive metaphysics: The nature of being, the divine language thesis, the active/passive distinction, and the nature of spirits. Roberts begins by focusing on Berkeley's view of the nature of being. He elucidates Berkeley's view on Locke and the Cartesians and by examining Berkeley's views about related concepts such as unity and simplicity. From there he moves on to Berkeley's philosophy of language arguing that scrutiny of the famous "Introduction" to the Principles of Human Knowledge reveals that Berkeley identified the ideational theory of meaning and understanding as the root cause of some of the worst of man's intellectual errors, not "abstract ideas." Abstract ideas are, rather, the most debilitating symptom of this underlying ailment. In place of the ideational theory, Berkeley defends a rudimentary "use theory" of meaning. This understanding of Berkeley's approach to semantics is then applied to the divine language thesis and is shown to have important consequences for Berkeley's pragmatic approach to the ontology of natural objects and for his approach to our knowledge of, and relation to other minds, including God's. Turning next to Berkeley's much aligned account of spirits, the author defends the coherence of Berkeley's view of spirits by way of providing an interpretation of the active/passive distinction as marking a normative distinction and by focusing on the role that divine language plays in letting Berkeley identify the soul with the will. With these four principles of Berkeley's philosophy in hand, he then returns to the topic of common sense and offers a defense of Berkeley's philosophy as built upon and expressive of the deepest metaphysical commitments of mainstream Christianity. Roberts' reappraisal of this important figure should appeal to all historians of philosophy as well as scholars in metaphysics and philosophy of language.

Author : R. G. Muehlmann
Publisher : Penn State University Press
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : UOM:39015034928864

Get Book

Berkeley's Metaphysics by R. G. Muehlmann Pdf

This collection of fourteen interpretative essays on the philosophy of George Berkeley (1685-1753) focuses specifically on Berkeley's theory of the nature and variety of existing things. The collection is notable for containing the first four winners of the Turbayne International Berkeley Essay Prize (only the first of which has been previously published). The seven essays in the first part, entitled "Idealism," attempt to illuminate Berkeley's notorious thesis that to be is to be perceived, that the esse of sensible things (trees, mountains, rivers, etc.) is percipi. Most of the essays in this first part are either direct or indirect responses to an influential interpretation of Berkeley's idealism advanced thirty years ago by Edwin B. Allaire. The second part, "Volition, Action, and Causation," contains four essays focusing on Berkeley's volitionism, on his thesis that only the activities of minds (volitions) are causally efficacious. "Vision and the Perceptual Objects," the third part of the volume, deals with Berkeley's theory of vision and his doctrine that all of the objects of perception depend on God's will for their existence.

Author : Talia Mae Bettcher
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 182 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2007-04-23
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781441164490

Get Book

Berkeley's Philosophy of Spirit by Talia Mae Bettcher Pdf

This book tackles some of the deepest problems in Berkeley's philosophy by providing a fresh interpretation of Berkeley's core ontological doctrines and their relationship to his views about self-consciousness. Berkeley, the author argues, is led to adopt a new model of self-consciousness because he rejects the basic metaphysics of many of his predecessors. This new model of self-consciousness provides the foundation for Berkeley's own ontological framework. Bettcher's interpretation provides answers to long-standing questions about Berkeley's traditionally derided views about mind, offers an elegant treatment of Berkeley's core metaphysical views more generally, and illuminates Berkeley's innovative attempt to address the important philosophical and theological issues of his day. Moreover, Bettcher shows the importance of Berkeley's philosophy of spirit to the perplexing thesis that the subject of experience is somehow mysteriously elusive. She argues that Berkeley can be seen as a transitional figure with respect to the older philosophical concept of 'subject' (as a metaphysical supporter of properties) and the more modern philosophical concept of 'subject (as opposed to 'object'). She provides a re-reading of Hume's famous claim that when he turned reflection upon himself, he could perceive only perceptions and sheds new light on the notion of a 'subject of experience'. The book will be of substantial interest both to Berkeley scholars and to philosophers concerned with contemporary discussions of self-consciousness.

Author : Daniel E. Flage
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2014-04-28
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780745682716

Get Book

Berkeley by Daniel E. Flage Pdf

Irish philosopher George Bishop Berkeley was one of the greatest philosophers of the early modern period. Along with David Hume and John Locke he is considered one of the fathers of British Empiricism. Berkeley is a clear, concise, and sympathetic introduction to George Berkeley’s philosophy, and a thorough review of his most important texts. Daniel E. Flage explores his works on vision, metaphysics, morality, and economics in an attempt to develop a philosophically plausible interpretation of Berkeley’s oeuvre as whole. Many scholars blur the rejection of material substance (immaterialism) with the claim that only minds and things dependent upon minds exist (idealism). However Flage shows how, by distinguishing idealism from immaterialism and arguing that Berkeley’s account of what there is (metaphysics) is dependent upon what is known (epistemology), a careful and plausible philosophy emerges. The author sets out the implications of this valuable insight for Berkeley’s moral and economic works, showing how they are a natural outgrowth of his metaphysics, casting new light on the appreciation of these and other lesser-known areas of Berkeley’s thought. Daniel E. Flage’s Berkeley presents the student and general reader with a clear and eminently readable introduction to Berkeley’s works which also challenges standard interpretations of Berkeley’s philosophy.

Author : Tom Stoneham
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 332 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : 0198752377

Get Book

Berkeley's World by Tom Stoneham Pdf

Tom Stoneham offers a clear and detailed study of Berkeley's metaphysics and epistemology, as presented in his classic work Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, originally published in 1713 and still widely studied. Stoneham shows that Berkeley is an important and systematic philosopher whose work is still of relevance to philosophers today.

Author : George Berkeley
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 387 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780521881357

Get Book

Berkeley: Philosophical Writings by George Berkeley Pdf

This edition provides texts from the full range of Berkeley's contributions to philosophy, and sets them in their historical and philosophical contexts.

Author : Gavin Ardley
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 187 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789401188722

Get Book

Berkeley’s Renovation of Philosophy by Gavin Ardley Pdf

In this work I have endeavoured to see Berkeley in his contemporary setting. On the principle that philosophy is ultimately about men, not about abstract problems, I have tried to see Berkeley the philosopher as an expression of Berkeley the man. When this is done, what is perennial in the philosophy may be discerned in and through what is local and temporal. Berkeley then emerges as a pioneer reformer; not so much an innovator as a renovator; one who set out to rescue phi losophy from the enthusiasms of the preceding age; one who strove to seat philosophy once more on the broad human and common sense foundations laid by Plato and Aristotle. Critical studies of some of the more striking of Berkeley's epistemo logical arguments are legion. They commenced with the young Berke ley's first appearance in print, and have continued to this day. But whether they take the form of professions of support for Berkeley, or of bald refutations of Berkeley's supposed fallacies, or whether, like the contemporary "analytical" studies of Moore, Warnock, and Austin, they are subtle exposures of alleged deeply concealed logical muddles, they all tend to share one common characteristic: they select and abstract from the totality of Berkeley, and miss the robust simplicity and universality of Berkeley's intentions. It is the intentions which control the whole, and give the right perspective in which to view the various items.

Author : Thomas Hughes
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 222 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1865
Category : First philosophy
ISBN : UOM:39015049881603

Get Book

The Ideal Theory of Berkeley, and the Real World by Thomas Hughes Pdf

Author : Damian Ilodigwe
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 175 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2020-06-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781527554696

Get Book

Berkeley by Damian Ilodigwe Pdf

Berkeley is popular in the philosophical tradition as the philosopher who denied the existence of matter in favour of spiritual substance. His esse est percipi thesis is understandably seen as a recipe for subjective idealism. While there is a point to this reading of Berkeley, it remains to be seen whether it does justice to the full significance of Berkeley’s opposition to philosophical materialism. In this book, essentially a sympathetic reconstruction of Berkeley’s philosophy, Ilodigwe approaches Berkeley’s Immaterialism from the standpoint of the philosophical issues raised by the emergence of modern science in the seventeenth century. He argues that when approached in this manner, Berkeley’s opposition to philosophical materialism not only emerges as an attempt to overcome false abstractions, but it also becomes possible to make sense of his claimed alliance with common sense in his battle against philosophical materialism. While the realist portrait of Berkeley that emerges from this exercise is not free from difficulties, it arguably offers us a fuller conspectus of Berkeley’s philosophy of immaterialism.

Author : Thomas Hughes
Publisher : Forgotten Books
Page : 203 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2015-06-16
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1330126696

Get Book

The Ideal Theory of Berkeley, and the Real World by Thomas Hughes Pdf

Excerpt from The Ideal Theory of Berkeley, and the Real World: Free Thoughts on Berkeley, Idealism, and Metaphysics About one-fourth of this volume was published some months since, in a small spirited Irish periodical. It is now given to the public not only enlarged in matter, but also altered in form. I am not so contracted in view, and vain in expectation, as to think that it will settle the vexed question between the realist and the idealist. If it will in any way advance knowledge, and cast a ray of light on any dark spot on the canvass of human vision, it will satisfy my expectation and wish. The book is not intended for the advanced and the erudite; but for those who aspire after advancement and knowledge, and receive with gratitude any light and assistance, from whatever quarter they may come. The intent is, to give within a narrow compass, some acquaintance with Berkeleys theory, to those who have not studied his works for themselves: it aims also to help and encourage the student of metaphysical science, in his lonely and persevering efforts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Author : Kenneth L. Pearce
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780198790334

Get Book

Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World by Kenneth L. Pearce Pdf

According to George Berkeley (1685-1753), there is fundamentally nothing in the world but minds and their ideas. Surprisingly, Berkeley tries to sell this idealistic philosophical system as a defense of common-sense and an aid to science. However, both common-sense and Newtonian science take the perceived world to be highly structured in a way that Berkeley's system does not appear to allow. The author of this book argues that Berkeley's solution to this problem lies in his philosophy of language. The solution works at two levels. At the first level, it is by means of our conventions for the use of physical object talk that we impose structure on the world. At a deeper level, the orderliness of the world is explained by the fact that, according to Berkeley, the world itself is a discourse 'spoken' by God. The structure that our physical object talk aims to capture is the grammatical structure of this divine discourse. This approach yields surprising consequences for some of the most discussed issues in Berkeley's metaphysics. In Berkeley's view, physical objects are neither ideas nor collections of ideas.

Author : George Berkeley
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 99 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2022-09-15
Category : Fiction
ISBN : EAN:8596547373742

Get Book

A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley Pdf

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge" by George Berkeley. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Author : Timo Airaksinen,Bertil Belfrage
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2011-01-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781443828161

Get Book

Berkeley’s Lasting Legacy by Timo Airaksinen,Bertil Belfrage Pdf

George Berkeley (1685–1753) is, with John Locke and David Hume, one of the three major figures in the British empiricist school of philosophy. He has been the centre of much attention recently and his philosophical profile has gradually changed. In the 20th century he was almost exclusively known for his denial of the existence of matter (as this term was defined in those days), but today it is no longer reasonable to confine an account of Berkeley to the challenging philosophical inventions that he published when he was a young fellow at Trinity College in Dublin. This is a welcome trend. It shows Berkeley as a contributor not only to epistemology, metaphysics and moral and social philosophy, but also to a wide range of subjects including mathematics, philosophy of science, empirical psychology, political economy and monetary policy. The present collection aims at meeting this new trend by presenting a broad and comprehensive picture of Berkeley’s works in their historical context. The contributors are some of the finest international experts in the field. The editors hope that this collection will show George Berkeley as he was: a wide-ranging, widely influential and courageous philosophical innovator. This volume has been published to celebrate the 300th anniversary of George Berkeley’s Principles.

Author : Stephen H. Daniel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2021-04-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780192646545

Get Book

George Berkeley and Early Modern Philosophy by Stephen H. Daniel Pdf

Stephen Daniel presents a study of the philosophy of George Berkeley in the intellectual context of his times, with a particular focus on how, for Berkeley, mind is related to its ideas. Daniel does not assume that thinkers like Descartes, Malebranche, or Locke define for Berkeley the context in which he develops his own thought. Instead, he indicates how Berkeley draws on a tradition that informed his early training and that challenges much of the early modern thought with which he is often associated. Specifically, this book indicates how Berkeley's distinctive treatment of mind (as the activity whereby objects are differentiated and related to one another) highlights how mind neither precedes the existence of objects nor exists independently of them. This distinctive way of understanding the relation of mind and objects allows Berkeley to appropriate ideas from his contemporaries in ways that transform the issues with which he is engaged. The resulting insights—for example, about how God creates the minds that perceive objects—are only now starting to be fully appreciated.

Author : George Berkeley
Publisher : Prabhat Prakashan
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 1985-01-01
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

Get Book

Philosophical Works Including the Works on Vision by George Berkeley Pdf