George Berkeley: Philosophy of Immaterialism Explained

George Berkeley: Life and Philosophical Legacy

George Berkeley was born in Ireland in 1685. At 15, he entered Trinity College, where he studied mathematics, logic, and philosophy. He taught at that school and was ordained in the Church of England, eventually becoming a bishop. He traveled through France and Italy, and in London, he became friends with Richard Steele. He married and sailed for America, then returned to London and eventually to Ireland, where he served as a bishop for 18 years. At 67, he and his wife settled in Oxford, where he passed away one year later.

The Berkeley Formula: Esse est percipi

Berkeley's core philosophy is summarized by the phrase: "To be is to be perceived" (esse est percipi). He argued that the existence of things does not occur in reality unless a mind perceives them. If something is perceived in the moment, it exists; if it is not perceived by me, it is perceived by another.

• Perception and Knowledge: Reality depends on vision and sensory experiences.
• Critique of Locke: Unlike Locke, Berkeley argued that size, shape, and movement are inconceivable if we abstract them from all other qualities.
• Unity of Qualities: The object and the sensation are the same; it is impossible to abstract one from the other. An object is simply the sum of its qualities.
• Spiritual Substance: Only that which is thought or a spiritual being truly exists.

The Rejection of Matter

For Berkeley, material substance does not exist. He claimed that the concept of "matter" is a useless abstraction, as things only exist when they are perceived.

Science and Abstract Ideas

Berkeley argued that the concept of "substance" is merely an abstract idea. While scientists use terms like "force" and "gravity," these are simply words that describe our sensory observations of how things behave; they do not provide knowledge beyond what our senses and thoughts reveal. Berkeley sought to clarify the scope of scientific language, warning against the belief that science provides knowledge beyond the sensible world.

God and the Existence of Things

Berkeley posited that God is almighty, eternal, and omnipotent. The existence of all things depends on God, who acts as the cause of the order in nature. Beyond our individual minds, there exists a larger mind—the mind of God—whose ideas constitute the order of the natural world. By asserting that "to be is to be perceived," Berkeley aimed to undermine the positions of both religious skepticism and philosophical materialism, arguing that since everything originates from God, our ideas and reasoning are also derived from the divine.