berkeley
The central part of Berkeley's metaphysics seems paradoxical or even absurd. Its claim is that what we call solid, and indeed everything else that we find laid out in the three-dimensional physical word that is apparently around us, is only fictional. It appears to be there, but it does not really have an independent existence. The physical world is, according to Berkeley, dependent on and only perceived through a mental state. In Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, Berkeley tried to explain how a seemingly noncommonsensical theory can actually consist of commonsensical characteristics. There are two contentions made by Berkeley in his attempt to prove that commonsense is the basis of his theory, rather than absurdity. The first is that in order for a material object to exist there must be a perceiver. The second is that of the existence of finite spirits (us) and an Infinite Spirit (God). Berkeley ascribed to an imperialistic view in the sense that the immediate obje!ct of our knowledge is ideas or subjective impressions. He denied the distinction between primary qualities (size, shape, motion, time,) which are objective, real/true features of the world, and secondary qualities (color, taste, smell, sound, ect.), which
-the materialistic/ functionalistic theory. merely perceived ideas/impressions existing in our minds. In order for the theory to continue its rationality, Berkeley explained that if it is not matter, which allows us to perceive physical objects, than it must be God. Therefore, following Berkeley thought, when we talk about matter, we are talking about God. That which we attribute to matter must refer to God, the revealer of ideas corresponding to material things. It would then follow that it is God who is the True Essence of physical objects and not atoms, photons, or protons. However, this explanation may be just as commonsensical as his explanation against science in that neither God nor matter has been proven scientifically to exist. Both are theoretical ideas. Since neither God nor matter can be proven to exist, it would follow that Berkeley's theory of external objects is just as commonsensical as postulating that physical objects contain atoms, photons ect, (reality consists of matter) and that God does not exist-! the world of spirits/minds. He believed that from the very presence of ideas and impressions, there had to existence finite spirits/minds, and because there had to be an origin of these ideas/impression, there had to exist a finite spirit/mind. Finite spirits/minds refers to humans and the Infinite Spirit/Mind refers to God. Now Berkeley was able answer the question posed above. He explained that God, who exists, produces the order, h
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Approximate Word count = 987
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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