George Berkeley Existence Of Matter Essay

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Magregoir Simeon July 31, 2000

Hume, Kant and the 18th Century Paper Topic #3

George Berkeley held that all the qualities of the object depend of the mind. Since objects have stable and regular existence, the mind they depend on must be divine rather than human (Immaterialism). In Berkeley’s view, therefore, the existence of a divine mind follows directly from the commonsense belief that physical objects exist when no one perceives them “it is but to look into your own thoughts, and so trying whether you can conceive it possible for a sound, or figure, or motion, or color, to exist without the mind, or unperceived”(sect.22). Berkeley held that it was direly possible to have the power to imagine or forming ideas in your mind but it does not show that you can conceive it possible. The objects of your thought may exist without your mind. To make this so, it is intensely essential that you conceive them existing unconceived or thought of, which is an apparent repugnancy.

Let us say that an object is material if it has all the qualities of body, extension figure, motion, rest, solidity and whatever other qualities a body has. A material thing is a corporeal thing, which is independent of the mind. Berkeley thinks that a little attentiveness will bring to light the truth and evidence of his theory (Immaterialism). Berkeley proposes that the mind takes no notice of itself, the mind is unenlightened to think it can and does conceive matter existing unthought of or without the mind.

Berkeley offers many suppositions for Immaterialism. The argument that the only substance is spirit and mind, the likeness principle, the primary and secondary distinction, concept of material is unintelligible, the ideas of sense and the existence of god and finally Berkeley’s “Master” argument. If it was unclear in the introduction of my paper the denouncement that I make and will support, is Berkeley’s “Master” argument for Immaterialism.

The advantage that Berkeley views he holds in his immaterialistic theory is that it could explain the production of ideas by inserting a supreme spirit, since we are already familiar with it from our own experience with the dependence of ideas on spirits. Berkeley’s hypothesis is simpler and it does not allow the existence of more than one type of matter. The bare fact that Berkeley uses God as his anchor for his theory gives hardship to disprove his theory. After all, how can one disprove God, but Berkeley cannot factually prove Gods function to our Ideas as well. Berkeley had recognized himself as a spirit, which is an active substance, and his ideas as being passive, depend on being perceive for their existence. I would have to ask Berkeley to explain how he knows he is not the one that causes some of his ideas. In fact, Berkeley’s response was that we observe this to be so. Would not this answer depend on the transparency of the mind? That what goes on in the mind can be detected through self-observation. Spirits, in Berkeley’s words are active beings and ideas are passive “A spirit is one simple, undivided, active being: as it perceives ideas, it is called the understanding, and it produces or otherwise operates about them, it is called the will” (sect.27). Berkeley’s argument for immaterialism...

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