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.
Tabella dei contenuti
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Chapter 1: Berkeley’s Life and Writings 1
Why Study Berkeley Today? 1
Early Life 3
Bermuda and Rhode Island 7
Bishop of Cloyne 12
On Reading Berkeley 17
Further Reading 21
Chapter 2: Vision 22
The Historical Context: Methods of Inquiry and Theories of Vision 23
Berkeley on Seeing Distance (NTV §§2–51) 26
Perception of Magnitude (NTV §§52–87) 31
Situation and Numerical Heterogeneity (NTV §§88–120) 33
Heterogeneity and the Universal Language of Vision (NTV §§121–158) 36
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 39
Further Reading 41
Chapter 3: Abstraction 42
Historical Context 43
The Principal Arguments 48
Language 53
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 54
Further Reading 55
Chapter 4: The Case for Idealism and Immaterialism in the Principles 56
The Case for Idealism (Sections 1–7) 58
The Attack on Matter (Sections 8–24) 70
Onward to Ordinary Objects (Sections 25–33) 86
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 94
Further Reading 95
Chapter 5: Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous 97
Background 98
Dialogue One 99
Dialogue Two 105
Dialogue Three 108
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 112
Further Reading 113
Chapter 6: Minds: Yours, Mine, and God’s 114
The Principles 116
Knowing Minds: Dialogue Three 124
Your Mind and God’s 131
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 136
Further Reading 136
Chapter 7: Moral Philosophy 137
Moral Theories 138
The Egoistic Notebooks 142
Passive Obedience 147
Alciphron 158
A Look Back; A Look Ahead 162
Further Reading 163
Chapter 8: Economics and the Irish Condition 164
Eighteenth-Century Ireland and the South Sea Bubble 164
An Essay towards Preventing of the Ruin of Great Britain 166
The Querist 169
Further Reading 176
Chapter 9: Concluding Remarks 177
Endnotes 182
Bibliography 189
Index 197
Circa l’autore
Daniel Flage is Professor of Philosophy at James Madison university.
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