George Berkeley

George Berkeley – Life, Thought, and Famous Sayings

Dive into the life and philosophy of George Berkeley (1685–1753), the Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop who advanced idealism (immaterialism). Explore his biography, key works, arguments, influence, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

George Berkeley (12 March 1685 – 14 January 1753) was an Irish philosopher, Anglican bishop, and one of the leading figures of early modern philosophy. immaterialism (later often called “subjective idealism”): the view that material substance, as ordinarily conceived, does not exist independently of perception, and that to be is to be perceived (Latin: esse est percipi).

Berkeley challenged assumptions held since Descartes and Locke about matter, perception, causation, and abstraction. His philosophical project intertwined metaphysics, epistemology, theology, and even critiques of mathematics.

Early Life, Education & Church Career

George Berkeley was born near Dysart Castle, close to Thomastown in County Kilkenny, Ireland, on 12 March 1685. Kilkenny College and then at Trinity College Dublin, where he became a Scholar in 1702, earned a B.A. in 1704, and an M.A. in 1707.

At Trinity, Berkeley remained active academically—teaching, lecturing, and engaging in philosophical work.

In 1734, he was consecrated Bishop of Cloyne in the Church of Ireland, a position he held until his death.

Later in life, when his health declined, he relocated to Oxford, England and died there on 14 January 1753. He was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

Philosophical Works & Major Ideas

Key Works

Some of Berkeley’s principal works include:

• An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision (1709)

• A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710)

• Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713)

• The Analyst (1734), a critique of the foundations of calculus

• Alciphron (1732), a defense of Christianity against free-thought arguments

• Siris: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries (1744)

Central Philosophical Positions

Immaterialism / Subjective Idealism

Berkeley’s most famous doctrine is that material substance does not exist in the way traditional philosophy claimed. Instead, what we call “physical objects” are collections of ideas in minds. esse est percipi — unless perception is sustained by God (so that objects do not vanish when no finite mind perceives them).

He rejects the notion of “material substratum” or “matter” behind sensory qualities, arguing that only minds (spirits) and ideas exist.

Vision & Perception

In Essay on Vision, Berkeley examines how visual perception relates to touch, and argues that distance, size, and motion are not directly apprehended visually but learned by linking visual cues to tactile sensations.

This work helps ground his later metaphysical claims about what can be known and what exists.

Critique of Abstraction & General Ideas

Berkeley argues that the idea of abstraction — forming general ideas that strip away particular sensory features — is flawed. Real ideas, he claims, are always particular, and the abstraction that supposes a mind-independent general idea of “triangle” in no particular shape is philosophically problematic.

Philosophy of Mathematics & The Analyst

Berkeley’s The Analyst is a famous critique of the foundations of calculus (as then practiced) — particularly the use of infinitesimals and “ghosts of departed quantities.”

This critique spurred mathematicians in later centuries to refine rigor (as in the (ε, δ) definitions).

Theology & Role of God

Because Berkeley denies autonomous existence of matter, he grounds continuity and order in God’s perception. In other words, when no human mind perceives an object, it continues to exist because God perceives it.

Also, Berkeley saw his philosophical work as deeply connected with Christian theology — defending Christianity from skepticism, rationalizing religious belief, and proposing a universe imbued with active divine presence.

Ethics & Political Thought

In A Discourse on Passive Obedience, Berkeley defended the view that citizens should accept negative commands of lawful authority (i.e. nonresistance), except in extreme cases.

He also wrote on economic and social questions (e.g. The Querist) in later life, tackling issues like credit, trade, poverty, and the public good.

Influence, Legacy & Critique

Intellectual Influence

• Berkeley is counted among the three major British Empiricists, alongside John Locke and David Hume.

• His idealist turn anticipated later philosophical developments — including Kant’s transcendental idealism and 19th/20th-century idealism.

• His critique of abstraction and foundations of calculus influenced mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, and debates on rigor.

• In America, Berkeley’s name lives on: the city of Berkeley (California) and University of California, Berkeley were named in his honor (though pronunciation differs).

Criticisms & Debates

• Critics argue Berkeley’s idealism is counterintuitive: denying the existence of unperceived objects seems to conflict with common sense.

• Some contend he fails to convincingly explain how perceptions relate to a stable external world, especially regarding causation.

• Others challenge the role of God in his system (i.e. using divine perception to guarantee continuity) as ad hoc.

• His rejection of matter and abstraction was deeply controversial in his own time and since.

Famous Quotes

While Berkeley is not as celebrated for pithy aphorisms as poets or popular writers, a few lines stand out:

• “Esse est percipi; id percipere solum noscis; nihil est, nisi quod percipitur.”
  (To be is to be perceived; you know this only by perceiving; nothing exists except what is perceived.)

• “All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth — in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world — have not any subsistence without a mind.”

• On mathematics and foundations:
  “Mathematicians should deduce true propositions from false principles” — a line from The Analyst.

• On theology: he often expressed that the material world is continuously upheld by the divine mind and that God is intimately involved in maintaining existence.

Lessons & Philosophical Takeaways

• Question foundational assumptions: Berkeley shows that even deeply entrenched notions (matter, abstraction) merit scrutiny.

• Link metaphysics and epistemology: What we can know (perception) constrains what we are willing to say exists.

• Integrate philosophy with worldview: Berkeley’s philosophy was not a detached intellectual toy, but entwined with his Christianity and theology.

• Rigor matters: His critique of mathematics illustrates that conclusions drawn from shaky premises are dubious even if they yield correct answers.

• Skepticism of overreach: He warns against positing entities (like matter) that lie beyond perceptual evidence.

Conclusion

George Berkeley is a bold and provocative thinker whose philosophy forces us to reconsider what, exactly, it means for anything to exist. His idealism demands we see the world as inseparable from perception, insists on God’s central role, and challenges us not to build superstructure on unperceived foundations. Though controversial, his ideas continue to animate debates in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and the philosophy of science.