George Berkeley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

George Berkeley - Essay Example This paper briefly analyses why he oppose the concept of matter and support the role of God in human life. Berkeley argued that whatever the material bodies at our sight are not material objects but light and colors only. He has pointed out that human senses has limitations in identifying the exact nature of objects because of the inferior powers of our senses. He has questioned the Newtonian concepts like space, time, motion etc. Newton was successful in defining material objects with respect to space, time, motion etc. Newton argued that every object in this universe is made up with a three dimensional space (Length, breadth and thickness).Moreover he has also argued that every object in this universe is either in a state of motion or in a state of rest with respect to another object. Berkeley questioned these Newtonian arguments and pointed out that our senses do not have the ability to recognize the actual shape and size of material objects in this world. Berkeley’s argume nts were summarized as a theory called "esse is percipi" which means all the things surrounding us are nothing but our ideas or shadows. These ideas were formed with the help of imperfect sensory inputs. Berkeley believed that human senses are not matured or perfect enough to recognize the actual shape and size of matters in this world. ... In other words, animals and human have different sensory abilities. The above example clearly shows that in this universe, different living things have different sensing abilities. Moreover it is quite possible that living things with superior sensing abilities than humans exist in this universe. Berkeley also argued that sensory inputs have no other existence which is different from our perceptions. For example, two blind people who try to recognize the shape of an elephant may perceive the shape of elephant differently if they touch different parts of elephant body. The one who touches the ear of the elephant may perceive the shape of elephant as flat whereas the one who touches the legs of an elephant may perceive the shape of elephant as cylindrical. In other words, we are quite similar to these blind people. Our senses are incapable of assessing the proper shape of an object. It is quite possible that the shape of an object may have other dimensions which we are incapable to per ceive using our senses. Berkeley believed only in spirits and ideas. He argued that the mental substance is a combination of mind, spirit and soul. Moreover, ideas rest in this mental substance. He also argued that spirit is the only active being whereas ideas are passive beings. In other words, ideas can be perceived differently by different people whereas spirit cannot be altered. Thus, Berkeley succeeded in classifying human knowledge into two broad categories; knowledge with respect to ideas and knowledge with respect to spirit. Spiritual knowledge cannot be perceived whereas knowledge based on ideas can be perceived by human senses. Thus, Berkeley argued that spiritual knowledge is beyond our control or beyond our grasping abilities. In short,