Philosophy 306  George Berkeley

INITIAL ARGUMENTS OF BERKELEY'S PRINCIPLES

 

"P" stands for the paragraph or section number.

  • Sensible things (e.g., empirical objects such as trees and books) are collections of sensations: particular tastes, smells, colors, shapes, and consistencies. (P. 1) 
  • For any empirical object X, "X exists" means "If I were in such-and-such location, I would perceive X." (P. 3) 
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For any empirical object, "X exists" means "If I were in such-and-such location, I would perceive this collection of sensations. 

  • Sensations are ideas. (P. 1) 
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For any empirical object, "X exists" means "If I were in such-and-such location, I would perceive this collection of ideas." 

  • Ideas cannot exist otherwise than in a mind perceiving them. (P. 3) 
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For any empirical object, "X exists" means "X exists in a mind perceiving X." 

  • Sensible ideas cannot exist in an unperceiving thing. (P. 7) 
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Sensible things (including empirical objects) cannot exist except in a mind perceiving it. ("Their esse is percipi.") 
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Sensible things (including empirical objects) do not exist when unperceived.

 

 

Last updated Feb. 23, 2007

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