is assumed that at a certain point he began to ponder the world around

him. Of course, these first attempts fell short of being scholarly,

probably consisting of a few grunts and snorts at best. As time passed

on, though, these ideas persisted and were eventually tackled by the

more intellectual, so-called philosophers. Thus, excavation of "the

external world" began. As the authoritarinism of the ancients gave way

to the more liberal views of the modernists, two main positions

concerning epistemology and the nature of the world arose. The first

view was exemplified by the empiricists, who stated that all knowledge

comes from the senses. In opposition, the rationalists maintained that

knowledge comes purely from deduction, and that this knowledge is

processed by certain innate schema in the mind. Those that belonged to

the empiricist school of thought developed quite separate and distinct

ideas concerning the nature of the substratum of sensible objects.

John Locke and David Hume upheld the belief that sensible things were

composed of material substance, the basic framework for the

not represent the notion of infinity. In short, the finite mind can

the finite human mind. Instead of the materialists' belief in the

imagine an infinite number of stars. After some intellection, the

The initial groundwork for Berkeley's position is the truism

being enlightened by the above proposed argument, though, that same

passive and only perceivable in a mind. He goes on to state that these

careful consideration. Berkeley assumes the view that ideas are

above mentioned case, the reader may have thought of a great many

defines these qualities as the ability in one object to produce change

is that which is either perceived or perceives5, and each part of the

Having proven that the materialist is, at best, a doubter,

immaterialist puts God at the center of his views. In truth, God is

against him; this idea is that one can never perceive the real essence

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2636
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)