George Berkeley example essay topic

George Berkeley was a strong believer in the idea that individuals can only directly know sensations and ideas of objects, not abstractions such as "matter". He was an Irish Philosopher whose was recognized most for his idea or immaterialism or subject idealism. The University Of Berkeley and the city surrounding it are named after him and his great works and Yale University also bears his name. Berkeley grew up in Dysart Castle. He was William Berkeley's eldest son. He was educated at Kilkenny College.

He then went on to Trinity College and remained there after completion of his degree as a tutor and Greek lecturer. In 1713 George Berkley's third book Dialogues between Hy las and Philo nous, made known his system of philosophy, the leading principle of which is that the world as represented to our senses depends for its existence, as such, on being perceived. One of his main objects was to combat the prevailing materialism of the time which was largely recognized as wrong and was ridiculed. Between 1714 and 1720, he began to travel around Europe to take a break from his academic problems. In 1721, he took Holy Orders, earning his doctorate in divinity, and once again chose to remain at Trinity College. In 1724 he was made Dean of Derry (a city in Northern Ireland).

During the year 1725 he founded a college in Bermuda. He then went to Newport, Rhode Island where Berkeley then proceeded to buy a plantation know as "whitehall". Then George Berkeley bought multiple slaves to help him on the plantation. On June 11, 1731 Berkeley Baptized three of his black slaves. In Berkeley's sermons explained to colonists why Christianity supported slavery, and hence slaves should become baptized Christians. Berkeley said, "It would be of advantage to their slave masters' to have slaves who should 'obey in all things their masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as men-please rs, but in singleness of heart, as fearing God; 'that gospel liberty consist that gospel liberty consists with temporal servitude; and that their slaves would only become better slaves by being Christian" (Berkeley, Proposal, 347.

See his sermon in Newport, preached October, 1729). He continues to lived at the plantation while waiting for funds for his Bermuda college to arrive. The funds, however, didn't come so in 1732 he returned to London. In 1734, he was appointed Bishop of Cloyne. While living in London he took part in the efforts to create a home for the city's abandoned children.

The Foundling Hospital was founded by Royal Charter in 1739 and Berkeley is listed as one of its original governors. Berkeley remained at Cloyne until 1752, when he retired and went to Oxford to live with his son. George Berkeley did a lot of great things for the world and contributed to science very much. Just in case you didn't really understand what he did here's a brief synopsis of his beliefs.

I call it George in a Nut Shell. Idealism Critique of Newtonian world: matter does not even exist All we know is our perceptions We cannot directly know that there is an external world ("esse est perc ipi") Reality is inside our mind: an object is an experience The whole universe is a set of experiences The only thing that exists is the experiences of our mind The only thing that exists is mind The soul always thinks The world is exactly how it appears: it "is" what appears, and it is inside our mind Our mind rules ideas Reality consists of finite, created minds; an infinite, uncreated mind; ideas Objects do not exist apart from a subject that thinks them.