![The Osprey Journal of Ideas and Inquiry](../../assets/md5images/4c18c62be482fc205623c354afbe12d1.gif)
All Volumes (2001-2008)
Volume
Volume IV, 2004
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Bert Koegler
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
George Berkeley is perhaps one of the most unique and intriguing figures in the history of modern philosophy. Dissatisfied with and angered by the materialist philosophies of his contemporaries, especially the ideas of John Locke,
Berkeley called for a return to "common sense." But "common sense," for Berkeley, involved not just a skeptical view of materialism, but the assertion that the material world does not exist at all! Berkeley utilizes persuasive logical arguments and empiricist principles in order to refute the existence of matter. However, when he attempts to account for what does exist, he makes a startling claim which does not hold up to his own rigorous logical standards.
Suggested Citation
MacPherson, Stacey, "Berkeley’s Idealist Theory of Knowledge and Whether or Not Empiricism Can Lead To Idealism" (2004). All Volumes (2001-2008). 88.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/88