Analysis Of George Berkeley s Philosophy - 1516 Words

George Berkeley is considered one the greatest modern philosophers, yet when he is studied he is seen as misguided and inaccurate. It seems that sometimes we study his errors more than his achievements. Many critiques of Berkeley are results of misunderstanding Berkeley’s philosophy. One very famous critique is from Samuel Johnson who lived around the same time as Berkeley. Johnson kicked a stone and said, â€Å"I refute it thus†. Why did Johnson believe he could refute Berkeley by kicking a stone? Did he misunderstand Berkeley, and if not what did he mean by this? To discover what Johnson meant we must first learn about what he was refuting. Berkeley has three main beliefs: 1. Idealism: the only things that exist are minds and their ideas; 2. Phenomenalism: Physicals objects are big collections of possible senses; and 3. Immaterialism: there is no such thing as a physical substance (something that exists independently). With Berkeley’s beliefs he has two motivations: 1. to oppose skepticism and 2. to promote religion, Berkeley was a bishop of the Anglican church so you can see why promoting religion was so important to him. Berkeley was an empiricist. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense experiences. Some other famous empiricists are Thomas Locke and David Hume. Berkeley is thought to be the bridge between Locke and Hume. Locke believed that primary qualities such as length, shape, and motion existed in the world. While secondary qualities suchShow MoreRelatedAntecedents of Cognitive Psychology1680 Words   |  7 Pagespeople come to understand the world- such processes as memory, learning, comprehending language, problem solving, and creativity. 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