Berkeley's Metaphysics

Berkeley's Metaphysics
Title Berkeley's Metaphysics PDF eBook
Author Robert G. Muehlmann
Publisher Penn State Press
Pages 281
Release 2010-11-01
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 0271042281

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A Metaphysics for the Mob

A Metaphysics for the Mob
Title A Metaphysics for the Mob PDF eBook
Author John Russell Roberts
Publisher Oxford University Press
Pages 195
Release 2007-05-18
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 0195313933

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Berkeley 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 requires that we develop a better understanding of the principle components of his positive metaphyics.

A Metaphysics for the Mob

A Metaphysics for the Mob
Title A Metaphysics for the Mob PDF eBook
Author John Russell Roberts
Publisher Oxford University Press
Pages 200
Release 2007-05-18
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 0190295368

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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.

George Berkeley

George Berkeley
Title George Berkeley PDF eBook
Author Tom Jones
Publisher Princeton University Press
Pages 648
Release 2021-05-04
Genre Biography & Autobiography
ISBN 0691217483

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A comprehensive intellectual biography of the Enlightenment philosopher In George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life, Tom Jones provides a comprehensive account of the life and work of the preeminent Irish philosopher of the Enlightenment. From his early brilliance as a student and fellow at Trinity College Dublin to his later years as Bishop of Cloyne, Berkeley brought his searching and powerful intellect to bear on the full range of eighteenth-century thought and experience. Jones brings vividly to life the complexities and contradictions of Berkeley’s life and ideas. He advanced a radical immaterialism, holding that the only reality was minds, their thoughts, and their perceptions, without any physical substance underlying them. But he put forward this counterintuitive philosophy in support of the existence and ultimate sovereignty of God. Berkeley was an energetic social reformer, deeply interested in educational and economic improvement, including for the indigenous peoples of North America, yet he believed strongly in obedience to hierarchy and defended slavery. And although he spent much of his life in Ireland, he followed his time at Trinity with years of travel that took him to London, Italy, and New England, where he spent two years trying to establish a university for Bermuda, before returning to Ireland to take up an Anglican bishopric in a predominantly Catholic country. Jones draws on the full range of Berkeley’s writings, from philosophical treatises to personal letters and journals, to probe the deep connections between his life and work. The result is a richly detailed and rounded portrait of a major Enlightenment thinker and the world in which he lived.

Berkeley's Philosophy of Spirit

Berkeley's Philosophy of Spirit
Title Berkeley's Philosophy of Spirit PDF eBook
Author Talia Mae Bettcher
Publisher A&C Black
Pages 182
Release 2007-06-23
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 0826486436

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Provides a new interpretation of Berkeley's conception of 'spirit' and its link with self-consciousness, as a way into his immaterialist metaphysics. Along the way, it sheds new light on Descartes's cogito and Hume's 'bundle' theory of the self.

Berkeley's Argument for Idealism

Berkeley's Argument for Idealism
Title Berkeley's Argument for Idealism PDF eBook
Author Samuel C. Rickless
Publisher Oxford University Press, USA
Pages 222
Release 2013-01-10
Genre Philosophy
ISBN 0199669422

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In the early 18th century George Berkeley made the astonishing claim that physical objects such as tables and chairs are nothing but collections of ideas. Samuel Rickless presents a new account of Berkeley's controversial argument, and suggests it is the philosopher's greatest legacy: not only is it valid, but it may well be sound.

The Development of Berkeley's Philosophy

The Development of Berkeley's Philosophy
Title The Development of Berkeley's Philosophy PDF eBook
Author George Alexander Johnston
Publisher
Pages 414
Release 1923
Genre Berkeley, George, bishop, 1685-1753
ISBN

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