Berkeley's World

Berkeley's World PDF Author: Tom Stoneham
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 9780198752370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
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.

Berkeley's World

Berkeley's World PDF Author: Tom Stoneham
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 9780198752370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
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.

Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World

Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World PDF Author: Kenneth L. Pearce
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192507559
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
According to George Berkeley (1685-1753), there is fundamentally nothing in the world but minds and their ideas. Ideas are understood as pure phenomenal 'feels' which are momentarily had by a single perceiver, then vanish. 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. Kenneth L. Pearce argues that Berkeley's solution to this problem lies in his innovative 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 world is literally an object of linguistic interpretation. The structure that our physical object talk - in common-sense and in Newtonian physics - 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. Most notably, it is argued that, in Berkeley's view, physical objects are neither ideas nor collections of ideas. Rather, physical objects, like forces, are mere quasi-entities brought into being by our linguistic practices.

Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World

Language and the Structure of Berkeley's World PDF Author: Kenneth L. Pearce
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192507540
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
According to George Berkeley (1685-1753), there is fundamentally nothing in the world but minds and their ideas. Ideas are understood as pure phenomenal 'feels' which are momentarily had by a single perceiver, then vanish. 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. Kenneth L. Pearce argues that Berkeley's solution to this problem lies in his innovative 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 world is literally an object of linguistic interpretation. The structure that our physical object talk - in common-sense and in Newtonian physics - 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. Most notably, it is argued that, in Berkeley's view, physical objects are neither ideas nor collections of ideas. Rather, physical objects, like forces, are mere quasi-entities brought into being by our linguistic practices.

Berkeley

Berkeley PDF Author: Colin Murray Turbayne
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816610665
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Berkeley was first published in 1982. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. In contemporary philosophy the works of George Berkeley are considered models of argumentative discourse; his paradoxes have a further value to teachers because, like Zeno's, they challenge a beginning student to find the submerged fallacy. And as a final, triumphant perversion of Berkeley's intent, his central contribution is still commonly viewed as an argument for skepticism - the very position he tried to refute. This limited approach to Berkeley has obscured his accomplishments in other areas of thought - his account of language, his theories of meaning and reference, his philosophy of science. These subjects and others are taken up in a collection of twenty essays, most of them given at a conference in Newport, Rhode Island, commemorating the 250th anniversary of Berkeley's American sojourn of 1728–31. The essays constitute a broad survey of problems tackled by Berkeley and still of interest to philosophers, as well as topics of historical interest less familiar to modern readers. Its comprehensive scope will make this book appropriate for text use.

It Came from Berkeley

It Came from Berkeley PDF Author: Dave Weinstein
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 9781423602545
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Why is Berkeley famous worldwide? Because of its inventiveness, its liberal attitudes, and its artists and writers. Did you know that public radio, California cuisine, the lie detector, the atomic bomb, free speech, the hot tub, and yuppies were all invented in this all-American city? J. Stitt Wilson, Berkeley's first Socialist mayor, once said, "Any kind of a day in Berkeley seems sweeter than the best day anywhere else." In How Berkeley Became Berkeley, Dave Weinstein goes about showing us just that. He tells the story of this unique city from the beginning-the 1840s-to present day by focusing on the events and people that made Berkeley into the famous-and infamous-place that it continues to be. More than any other general book about Berkeley, How Berkeley Became Berkeley brings the history of the town and the university to life with anecdotes that are amusing, surprising, sometimes shocking, and often touching. Dave Weinstein, a native of Long Island, New York, received his undergraduate degree in art history at Columbia University in 1973, and then studied journalism at UC Berkeley. He has lived in the Bay Area for thirty years, and spent twenty years as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers. Dave has written two books, Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the text for a photo book Berkeley Rocks. He writes for the magazine CA Modern, and for four years has been writing a popular series of architect profiles for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Reexamining Berkeley's Philosophy

Reexamining Berkeley's Philosophy PDF Author: Stephen Hartley Daniel
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 0802093485
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
George Berkeley (1685-1753) is perhaps most famous for his assertion that our knowledge of the world is nothing other than the experience of our ideas. Reexamining Berkeley's Philosophy examines this aspect of Berkeley's thought, arguing that such a viewpoint assumes that physical objects and minds are better understood when discussed in the contexts of science, morality, and religion. This collection confronts the question: how can we know anything about the world if all we know are our ideas? Comprised of eleven previously unpublished essays by leading scholars in the field, Reexamining Berkeley's Philosophy demonstrates how things in the world are intrinsically related to the sequence of experiences that constitute minds. This collection also discusses how the harmony of experience reveals strategies for recognizing the inherently active character of reality. Ultimately, this volume represents a major contribution to the study of Berkeley's philosophy by critiquing the tendency to generalize his thought as a version of theologically modified solipsism. In this way, it is a unique and invaluable addition to Berkeley scholarship.

Berkeley's Theory of Radical Dependence

Berkeley's Theory of Radical Dependence PDF Author: Gavan Jennings
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527506886
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
This work traces the theory of Radical Dependence through its various forms in Berkeley’s philosophical works. It shows that a desire to establish a theory of Radical Dependence underlies all of these works and that this theory unifies Berkeley’s various phases of philosophical development. The work begins by establishing the meaning of “Radical Dependence” and examining the influence of Greek, Early Christian and Mediaeval philosophers and theologians on the development of the concept. Subsequently, the deism of the seventeenth-century philosophers is examined; the influence of science and rationalism on the development of deism is traced, with particular attention being given to Berkeley’s personal milieu. With a view to showing that Berkeley wishes to re-establish the waning Christian cosmology, his philosophical works are examined in chronological order, particular attention being paid to his final work Siris. It is shown that, although Berkeley moves from a philosophy based on the immaterialist hypothesis in his early works, to one based on the doctrine of participation in his last work, each phase is a variation of the doctrine of Radical Dependence. In the final chapter some of the shortcomings of Berkeley’s various philosophical systems are discussed and alternatives are examined. The direction of his thought is found to be guided more by piety than by common-sense and reason: he suffers from a pious pragmatism which leads him to hold doctrines as true on the grounds that they corroborate Christian doctrines. His firm belief in the providence of God leads him to affirm an almost pantheistic worldview which he never fully manages to reconcile with traditional Christian theology, and the doctrine of creation ex nihilo in particular.

Starting with Berkeley

Starting with Berkeley PDF Author: Nick Jones
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441121617
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
George Berkeley (1685-1753) was one of the most important and influential philosophers in the history of Western thought. He is most famous for his controversial denial of the existence of matter, and for his 'idealism' - the claim that everyday objects are simply collections of ideas in the mind. Starting with Berkeley provides a detailed overview of Berkeley's philosophy, a user-friendly guide to the interpretation of his arguments, and the opportunity for the reader to critically engage with Berkeley's philosophical moves via an examination of some of the common objections which have been raised against them. The book also introduces the major philosophical figures and theories that influenced and inspired Berkeley's thinking and gives a clear sense of the controversy that surrounds the interpretation and evaluation of his ideas.

Berkeley's Metaphysics

Berkeley's Metaphysics PDF Author: Robert G. Muehlmann
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271042281
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description


Berkeley-Arg Philosophers

Berkeley-Arg Philosophers PDF Author: George Pitcher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136956514
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book constitutes a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher of major influence and significance. George Berkeley, an Irishman of English descent, was born on March 12, 1685 near Kilkenny, Ireland. By the age of twenty-eight, then, Berkeley had completed the great works that give him a secure place in the history of philosophy.