George Berkeley's Idealism

hello and welcome to philosophy Bible the website where we discuss and debate different philosophical ideas today we're going to be looking back at the knowledge of the external world debate and focusing on idealism now idealism is a theory advocated by the philosopher George Burkley who argued for the rejection of matter Berkeley believed that reality was just a series of mental ideas he explained it as SI s specific to be is to be perceived there was nothing that existed in a physical world external to our minds all of reality is just mental ideas that we perceive whoa that's quite radical theory was let Berkeley into believing that well firstly Berkeley rejects the direct to realist approach do you remember this yes this is the theory that we directly perceive the external world how it is what we see and experience is exactly the same in our minds as in the external world correct Berkeley instantly rejects this idea and uses John Locke's primary and secondary quality distinction to support this rejection if you recall John Locke used an indirect realist approach to reality by highlighting how many parts of reality exist in the mind and not in an external world how can it be that what tastes sweet to one person may taste bitter to another or how can a hot hand feel water as cool but a cold hand can feel the same water as hot if these properties existed in the physical form they would be consistent all the time it seems these properties are in fact mind dependent and just exist as mental ideas yes I remember however John Locke used this argument against direct realism but as an indirect realist John Locke still believed in an external world existing outside of our minds or primary qualities that cause the ideas or the secondary qualities in our minds so how can Berkeley reject the existence of an external world well Berkeley has good grounds to continue this line of thought further and show that we cannot in fact make a distinction between an external world and mental ideas we perceive Locke's main argument in support of indirect realism was that secondary qualities appear different at different times and to different people color can look different under different lights taste can taste different to different people etc etc so these are just ideas in the mind but he claims an object's extension and figure exists in an external world however the same argument can be applied to an object's extension how can the same building look tall at one site but small at another what is the right size it should be perceived so if primary qualities are subject to change they fall into the same brackets as secondary qualities and so should be considered mind dependent ideas too right I get it Berkeley goes on to explain further against indirect realism using the likeness principle he argues that whether you believe in an external world or not we are aware that we only perceive our own ideas of reality not the perception of reality directly however if we only ever directly perceive our ideas an idea can be like nothing but an idea just like extension and figure can be like nothing but extension and figure so too with ideas and if an idea can be like nothing but an idea and we only perceive our ideas then how can they derive from an external physical material object hmm okay Berkeley then uses the master argument to further strengthen his rejection of matter and advocacy of a reality solely in our minds Berkeley argues that the very existence of an external world is in fact inconceivable he asks us to imagine an object let's say a tree in a park imagine this object existing unperceived what are you imagining a big tree in an empty park well in fact it is you that's perceiving it one can perceive something existing in an external world outside of everyone's mind because you are they're perceiving it it is being perceived as an idea in your mind we therefore have no access or cannot even conceive of a material world existing outside of our minds okay Berkeley has raised some good arguments for idealism however doesn't an immaterial world all existing in our minds seem to go against common sense how so well let's say there is no physical world how can our reality be so consistent when I go into my room I have the idea of it with all my stuff I then leave for a few hours go back to my room and it's exactly the same same things same colors in the same places and all the same size if there is no physical world in which my ideas come from then how do we explain this regularity we perceive everyday my bed is the same color and the same size how could I be having such a regular idea if there was not a physical structure of a bed in an external world generating these ideas okay and it's not just the regularity but also the continuity if I like to candle in my room and leave for a few hours when I come back the candle wax has melted well if there is no physical candle wax in an external world and I was not present to perceive the idea of the candle melting then how has the candle melted how does existence have the continuity even when there are no minds present to perceive in fact Berkeley has replies to both those rejections see you are forgetting about the most powerful mind in existence and the mind that sustains the reality we perceive what's there it's God Berkeley argues in favor of a God who creates laws of nature for our minds to perceive God keeps our mental reality in a state of regularity so when you do go back to your bedroom tonight your bed will be the same color and the same shape and in the same place and even when there are no minds around to perceive something the continuity persists because the mind of God is still their to perceive it reality is essentially all created and within the mind of God so when you leave your bedroom after you have lit the candle God's mind is still present to continue its burning of the wax by I see okay I still have one more argument if reality is then just mind dependent ideas then how can we distinguish a dream or hallucination from reality we perceive dreams and hallucinations in our minds if we follow Berkeley's logic all dreams and hallucinations are real but again we know they are not so what do we make of them we can still tell apart reality from hallucinations and dreams the real things in our immature reality have regularity our reality is ordered it has steadiness and vivacity it's coherent these are not so in dreams or hallucinations so I do not think you must concede and claim any hallucination or dream has to be taken as real I'm not so sure about that and also I think Berkeley's idealism only works with the assumption of a God in place if we take God out of the mix idealism is open to a lot of problems Berkeley assumes the existence of God to further the theory we should not work under the assumption that God exists and maintains the order of our mental reality okay also idealism really leaves one open to skepticism and eventually solipsism if we agree there is no material world and realities in our minds then what to stop in one taking it even further and saying every person or other mind they perceive is not real but just an idea in their own mind what if all of reality including other people was just an idea in my mind and does not exist outside of my mind for me that means you my mother my father and everyone I have ever met it's just an idea in my mind and you all do not exist outside of it leaving me as the only real unconscious person in the whole of reality well yes some may take the theory even further although solipsism is very interesting that's all the time we have for now we hope you enjoyed the vibe and please check out the website for some other videos

Channel: Philosophy Vibe

Views: 59,100

Rating: 4.8963733 out of 5

Keywords: Philosophy, Vibe, George Berkeley, Idealism, Perception, Early Modern Philosophy, Direct Realism, Indirect Realism, Metaphysics, Mind and Body, Dream, Reality in the mind, John Locke, Study, Revision, A Level, AS Level

Id: v-lDlxVQy4c

Length: 8min 58sec (538 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 24 2016