Berkley's idealism Flashcards
What is Berkley’s idealism
Berkely’s idealism is a theory of perception that states all that exists are our minds and their ideas. This means that physical objects do not exist independently of the a perceiver and are no more than ideas appearing in the mind. However, Berlkey doesn’t argue that objects only exist when being perceived by finite human minds, but that they are sustained by an infinite perceiver that is God. in this way, God causes all of our ideas/ sense data.
What is sense data
Sense data is mental representations of mind dependent objects.
Berkeley’s attack on the primary and secondary qualities distinction
Locke makes the distinction that some of out sense data (ideas) resemble the objective properties of objects (primary qualities such as shape, size, and extension), while our ideas of secondary qualities (colour, taste, and sound) do not resemble what causes them. Berkeley attempts to collapse this distinction in order to to shoe that both qualities do not represent anything beyond the mind.
Berkeley does this by showing that primary and secondary qualities cannot be separated, as if they were separable, it would be clear they are distinct.
1) it is impossible to imagine primary qualities without secondary qualities
2) so our ideas of secondary qualities of an object cannot be separated from the primary qualities of an object
3) it follows that they must exist together
4) the indirect realist accepts that our ideas of secondary qualities are mind dependent
5) therefore it follows that our ideas of primary qualities must also be mind dependent
argument from perceptual variation in support of Berkeley’s idealism
Locke uses the argument of perceptual variation to support that some properties, secondary qualities, cannot be mind independent as they are subject to change depending on perceptual relatively. Berkeley runs a similar argument so show that this also applies to primary qualities. Berkley approaches this from the primary qualities of size, shape, and motion.
1) what looks small to us may look big to a mite
2) a material object cannot be small or big at the same time
3) therefore size cannot be a property of material objects
1) the perceived shape of an object changes depending on the angle of perception
2) a material object cannot be different shapes at the same time
3)therefore shape cannot be a property of material objects
1) the speed of an object may apear fast or slow depending on different minds (I am bored and you are not)
2) but the speed of a material object cannot be fast and slow at the same time
3) therefore motion is not a property of material objects
The Master Argument
Berkeley’s master argument attempts to demonstrate that the very idea of a mind independent object is contradictory. The argument postulates that any object which is conceived of being unperceived it in turn being perceived by the conceiver, therefore the very idea of a mind indpejednt object that exists apart from a conceiver is impossible.
1) try to conceive of a tree which exists independently of any mind
2) in doing so, the tree is perceived by you
3) therefore the tree is in your mind and not independent of any mind after all
the issue of illusions and hallucinations
this issue poses the question of how the idealist can distinguish between veridical perception (real objects) and the objects of our illusions and hallucinations. Illusions occur when our mind dependent sense data mislead us about mind independent objects of reality, while hallucinations occur when there is nothing in reality corresponding to our sense data. However, the idealist cannot distinguish between hallucinations and illusion with veridical perception because there is no mind independent reality to compare it with. This goes against our common sense as we seem to want to believe we know when we’ve experienced hallucinations and illusions. However, the idealist seems to be saying that when we perceive an oar bend in the water, that the reality is that it’s bent in the water.
response to the issue of illusions and hallucinations
Berkeley responds to the issue of hallucinations and illusions by explaining that although the sense data in such situations are not being mistaken we are able to recognise illusions and hallucinations by judging its coherence with our experiences that follow. In the case of illusions, if I were to see a bent oar in the water and proceed to feel and pull it out of the water to check, the apparent straightness of the oar will inform me that the previous experience was an illusion. Similarly, if I hallucinate a knife in front of me and attempt to grab it but only feel air, I will be able to tell I had experienced a hallucination. Therefore the error that lies in both cases is in the inferences that I made according to the sense data I had experienced.
the issue that idealism leads to solipsism
Idealism states that all of our experiences come from sense data which is dependent of our own minds. therefore, it follows that I cannot know of anything that is beyond my own existence - namely the external world or other people. Berkeley’s master argument goes even further to conclude that mind independent objects are contradictory and impossible. therefore, it seems that idealism thinks the world comes to fruition at my birth, ends when I die, and come in and out of existence every time I blink. This poses an issue to idealism as it seems to contradict our common belief that we have a shared experience of reality and that reality doesn’t simply go out of existence when not being perceived.
Berkeley’s defence (GOD)
Berkeley’s idealism doesn’t claim that things can only exist in my mind, but that they must exist in a mind. This mind for Berkeley is God. Berkeley reaches the conclusion that it is God because our ideas (sense data) cannot be caused by ideas as they have no casual power and cannot cause themselves, it cannot be ourselves as if we had causal power over our sense data we would not experience hallucinations. Therefore it must be God. God puts the same idea of objects into our minds, therefore solving the issue of solipsism. God, as an infinite perceiver also maintains that these objects stay in existence and do not go out of existence when finite minds are not perceiving them. God also ensures the constant behaviour of these objects, therefore explaining why we perceive regularities in the universe.
Problems with the role played by God
the idealist says that all ideas that we have are caused by the God, and therefore those same ideas are in God’s mind too. this creates an issue as many of the negative ideas that we have then must be inside and experienced by God too. Some of these ideas can contradict the idea of a perfect being. The argument is as follows:
1) what we perceive is in the mind of God
2) therefore it follows that the idea of pain is in the mind of god
3) that is God suffers from pain
4) if god suffers from pain then he is not a perfect being
5) by definition god is a perfect being
6) therefore god cannot exist
without the existence of God, Idealism falls back into the issues that were present before.
