George Berkeley: philosophy, main ideas, biography

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Among the empirical and idealistic philosophers, one of the most famous is George Berkeley. His father was an Englishman, but George considered himself Irish, since it was there, in the south of Ireland, that he was born in 1685. From the age of fifteen, the young man began a period of college education, with which he would be connected in one way or another for a long period of his life (until 1724). In 1704, Berkeley Jr. received a bachelor's degree, and three years later - a master's degree with the right to teach in the junior teaching staff. A few years later, he becomes an Anglican priest, and then a Ph. D. and senior lecturer at the college.

Subjective idealism

Even in his youth, D. Berkeley, choosing between materialistic views and subjective idealism, took the side of the latter. He became a defender of religion and in his writings showed the dependence of a person's perception of matter on how it sees and feels the soul (mind, consciousness), formed by God. Even in his youth, works were written that became significant for the development of philosophical thought and glorified the name - George Berkeley.

Philosophy and the search for truth have become the meaning of the life of the Irish thinker. Among his works are interesting: "Experience of a new theory of vision", "Treatise on the principles of human knowledge", "Three conversations between Hylas and Philonus". By publishing a work on the new vision, the young philosopher set himself the goal of belittling the significance of the primary qualities that prove independence from our consciousness and the reality of matter. In contrast to Descartes' theory of the length of bodies, which had already gained popularity at that time, he reveals the dependence of the perception of distance, shape and position of objects through vision. According to the philosopher, the connection between different sensations is an area of logic that is formed empirically.

Significant works of the philosopher

Among the works of the thinker there were various reflections, including those with a theological bias. But one of the most interesting works is the “Three Dialogues of Hylas and Philonus” (George Berkeley - philosophy), which can be briefly described as follows: the author raised the question of the metaphysical perception of the relativity of comprehension of reality, as well as phenomenalism. In Motion, Berkeley challenges Newton's views on the abstract understanding of motion. George's philosophical approach is that movement cannot be independent of space and time. Not only this concept was criticized by the philosopher, but also many other categories of Newton.

Two more works by Berkeley are also noteworthy: a conversation between freethinkers "Alkifron" and philosophical discussions about tar water, where he raises the questionmedical benefits of tar, and also retreats towards abstract free topics of a philosophical and theological nature.

Family

The philosopher's wife was Anna Forster, a judge's daughter (her father was the Irish Chief Justice of Litigation). It is worth noting the easy, friendly and cheerful nature of George. He was loved by friends and acquaintances. In his care soon there was an educational house, founded by royal charter. His wife bore him seven children. However, in those days, many children did not live to adult, conscious age due to illness. At Berkeley, only three survived, and the rest died.

When George Berkeley received his inheritance, he proposed to establish a school in Bermuda where pagans would be converted to Christianity. At first, the mission was accepted and approved by Parliament in every possible way, and also supported by aristocratic circles. However, when the missionary with his associates retired to the island, she was gradually forgotten. And without proper funding, the scientist-philosopher had to stop missionary work. Gradually, he leaves his affairs and spends more time with his son. George Berkeley lived sixty-seven years and died in 1752. The city of Berkeley in one of the states of America, California, is named after him.

Berkeley Ontology

Many thinkers, including Kant and Hume, fell under the influence of the worldview of the great philosopher. The main idea that Berkeley preached in his views was the importance of the sense of touch of the soul and the images formed by it. In other words, any perceptionmatter is a consequence of its perception by the human soul. His main doctrine was the theory of subjective idealism: “There is only me and my sensory perception of the world. Matter does not exist, there is only my subjective perception of it. God sends and forms ideas, thanks to which a person feels everything in this world…”.

In the understanding of the philosopher, to exist is to perceive. Berkeley's ontology is the principle of solipsism. According to the thinker's views, the existence of other souls having a "final" form is only a plausible probable conclusion based on analogies.

Inconsistent views

However, there is some inconsistency in the philosopher's teaching. For example, in the same substance "I" he used the same arguments to criticize the material and to prove the indivisibility and unity of the beginning. However, his follower David Hume formalized these ideas into a theory, where he transferred the concept of matter to the spiritual component: the individual “I” is a “bundle of perceptions”. It is impossible not to break away from the materialistic view when studying the works that the philosopher George Berkeley wrote.

Quotes of the theologian and thinker inspire the idea of eternity and the significance of God in a person's life, his dependence on the Almighty. However, at the same time, one comes across some inconsistency and inconsistency in Berkeley's works, which is revealed in the critical statements of many philosophers.

Continentality and Berkeley philosophy

Berkeley came to the conclusion about the existenceGod, who alone generates sensations in the souls of people by his will. In his opinion, a person has no power over his feelings, even if he thinks so. After all, if a person opens his eyes and sees the light - it does not depend on his will, or if he hears a bird - this is also not his will. He cannot choose between "seeing" and "not seeing", which means that there is another will, of a higher level, which produces feelings and sensations in a person.

Studying the works written by George Berkeley, some researchers came to the conclusion (which, however, is not conclusively confirmed, but has the right to exist) that the philosopher's views are formed on the basis of Malebranche's theory. This makes it possible to consider D. Berkeley an Irish Cartesian, rejecting the presence of empiricism in his teaching. Since 1977, Ireland has published a bulletin in honor of the great philosopher.

Historic place in philosophy

The teaching that George Berkeley left behind, the biography of the thinker - all this is of great interest and value for the historical development of philosophy. His theory gave a new impetus, a new spiral of development in the direction of philosophical thought. Schopenhauer considers Berkeley's merits immortal and calls him the father of idealism. Thomas Reed was also for a long time under the influence of the philosophical thought that George Berkeley preached. The main ideas of the philosopher will be studied by more than one generation of thinkers. However, many of them, including Thomas Reed, subsequently began to criticize them.

The teachings of Berkeley entered textbooks on philosophy as empirical views. More than one generation of philosophers will be impressed by his theory and then accept, develop or refute it. His views gained the greatest popularity on the territory of Poland, but in many Slavic countries his philosophy was widespread and took its rightful place among similar works.