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George Berkeley - Essay

George Berkeley

was an Irish philosopher. His philosophical beliefs were centered on one main belief, the belief that perception is the basis for existence. In doing so, he rejected the notion of a material world in favor of an immaterial world.
Berkeley felt that all we really know about an object we learn from our perception of that object. He recognized that in the materialist’s view the real object is independent of any perceiver’s perception. The pen on my desk would exist, whether or not I was in the room to see it or have a sensory experience of it in some way. Berkeley rejected this idea. He realized that knowledge is limited to perception. In this realization, he postulated ...

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an easy step from that ideology for him to adopt the phrase – Esse Est Percipi, which means, “To be is to be perceived.” There is a crippling problem that arises in this mode of thinking that can best be demonstrated by the following limerick:
who said “God,
must find it extremely odd
to think that this tree will continue to be
when there is no one
about in the quad.”

Dear Sir,
I’m always about
in the quad
and that’s why
this tree
will continue to be
since observed by
Yours Faithfully,
God

This limerick demonstrates the devastating problem with this mode of thought and also a possible solution. What, then, happens to an object when no one can perceive it anymore? If no one sees the tree and no one has a sensory experience of it, does it cease to exist? This idea suggests that objects pop in and out of reality when not being perceived by any human perceiver. Berkeley argues from an immaterialist standpoint ...

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George Berkeley. (2005, October 30). Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/George-Berkeley/35682

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"George Berkeley." Essayworld.com. October 30, 2005. Accessed January 6, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/George-Berkeley/35682.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 10/30/2005 03:39:49 AM
Category: Biographies
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 575
Pages: 3

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