Product Description
Berkeley responded vigorously against the dominant materialist interpretation of seventeenth century physics, proclaiming the dependence of the physical world on the spirit. This volume contains a selection of Berkeley's most important philosophical works, including "Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision," "Principles of Human Knowledge," "Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous," and his correspondence with Dr. Samuel Johnson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Perenial metaphysics
Berkeley's ideas arises perenially in pop culture, in movies based on the works of Phillip K Dick, and more recently, in the Matrix.

Impressive, very lucid and worth reading!
This book has proven to me to be one of the best philosophical works from the 18th century. Its clearness and lucidness surpasses many of the philosophers of that period. Even though Berkeley's theory and arguments may be considered most radical, he explains them with great care and you can almost take them for a fact.

Berkeley's concepts can be only examined out of pure reason basically, since his theory rest merely on speculative thought. Nor is it possible to show any concrete proof for his arguments, however I find it much harder to disapprove his concepts since it all depends on rational thinking and not material evidence. His views provoke an exciting approach to a new metaphysics and reality.

This book should be read with the utmost clearness of mind, and one must eliminate all prejudice from the mind. Although a fairly easy book to read, one must dedicate time to deep reflection when considering its arguments.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in philosophy, specially in metaphysics, this is a must-read! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
George Berkeley notoriously claimed that his immaterialist metaphysics was not only consistent with common sense but that it was also integral to its defense. Roberts argues that understanding the basic connection between Berkeley's philosophy and common sense requires that we develop a better understanding of the four principle components of Berkeley's positive metaphysics: The nature of being, the divine language thesis, the active/passive distinction, and the nature of spirits.

Roberts begins by focusing on Berkeley's view of the nature of being. He elucidates Berkeley's view on Locke and the Cartesians and by examining Berkeley's views about related concepts such as unity and simplicity. From there he moves on to Berkeley's philosophy of language arguing that scrutiny of the famous "Introduction" to the Principles of Human Knowledge reveals that Berkeley identified the ideational theory of meaning and understanding as the root cause of some of the worst of man's intellectual errors, not "abstract ideas." Abstract ideas are, rather, the most debilitating symptom of this underlying ailment. In place of the ideational theory, Berkeley defends a rudimentary "use theory" of meaning. This understanding of Berkeley's approach to semantics is then applied to the divine language thesis and is shown to have important consequences for Berkeley's pragmatic approach to the ontology of natural objects and for his approach to our knowledge of, and relation to other minds, including God's. Turning next to Berkeley's much aligned account of spirits, the author defends the coherence of Berkeley's view of spirits by way of providing an interpretation of the active/passive distinction as marking a normative distinction and by focusing on the role that divine language plays in letting Berkeley identify the soul with the will. With these four principles of Berkeley's philosophy in hand, he then returns to the topic of common sense and offers a defense of Berkeley's philosophy as built upon and expressive of the deepest metaphysical commitments of mainstream Christianity.

Roberts' reappraisal of this important figure should appeal to all historians of philosophy as well as scholars in metaphysics and philosophy of language. ... Read more

Product Description
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
It is indeed an opinion strangely prevailing amongst men that houses, mountains, rivers, and, in a word, all sensible objects have an existence, natural or real, distinct from their being perceived by the understanding. -from "On the Principles of Human Knowledge"

Forming a triangle of British empiricism with Locke and Hume, George Berkeley's direct influence on modern thought cannot be overstated. From the American Founding Fathers, who looked to him as the pioneer of their idealism, to the reality-questioning motives of quantum physics, Berkeley's odd, profound view of the nature of human perception, a sense he trusted implicitly, has in turn shaped our perception of the universe at large.

Dismissed as an impractical dreamer, a disaffected anti-authoritarian, even a madman in his time, Berkeley here shifts the ground under the feet of humanity, questioning everything and finding fundamental freedom in human will and action. His conclusions remain as wise and inspiring as they were almost three hundred years ago, when he first shared them with the world in 1710. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1843 edition by Thomas Tegg, London. ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
Bodleian Library (Oxford)

N015786



Dublin : printed for William Williamson, 1757. [12],370p. ; 8° ... Read more

Product Description
Through reflection or introspection it is possible to attempt to know if a sound, shape, movement, or color can exist unperceived by a mind? This book largely seeks to refute the claims made by Berkeley's contemporary John Locke about the nature of human perception. Both Locke and Berkeley agreed that there was an outside world, and it was this world which caused the ideas one has within one's mind, Berkeley sought to prove that the outside world was also composed solely of ideas. ... Read more

Product Description
Covering all aspects of George Berkeley's philosophy, this volume contains twelve scholarly and argumentative essays written by British and North American philosophers to celebrate the tercentenary of his birth. Contributors include Christopher Peacocke, A. C. Lloyd, R. C. S. Walker, Margaret D. Wilson, and Stephen Clark. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1728 George Berkeley, the Irish philosopher and Anglican priest, came to America in the hope of founding a university in Bermuda and converting the Indians. He never reached Bermuda, where within a few years no Indians were left. Instead he settled in Newport, Rhode Island, one of the few places in New England that was hospitable to Anglicans. There his lively mind and sympathetic spirit involved him in a great variety of interests, though he stayed only thirty-three months. This book is a graceful and authoritative account of an important episode in the life of a major philosopher and influential figure in the religious life of colonial New England. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more