George Berkeley

George Berkeley, born on 12 March 1685, was an influential Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and Anglican clergyman, best known for founding immaterialism, a philosophical theory that later evolved into subjective idealism. His contributions to the empiricism movement positioned him as a pivotal figure in the philosophical landscape of the eighteenth century, earning him recognition as 'the father of idealism' by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

In 1709, Berkeley published his first significant work, An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, where he explored the limitations of human sight, proposing that the true objects of vision are not material entities but rather light and color. This idea laid the groundwork for his most renowned philosophical treatise, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, released in 1710. Despite its initial poor reception, he later reformulated the work into a dialogue format, resulting in the publication of Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in 1713, where he articulated his views through the characters Philonous and Hylas.

Berkeley's philosophical inquiries extended to critiques of established scientific doctrines, notably challenging Isaac Newton's concepts of absolute space, time, and motion in his work De Motu, published in 1721. His arguments foreshadowed the ideas of later thinkers such as Ernst Mach and Albert Einstein. In addition to his philosophical pursuits, he authored Alciphron in 1732, a Christian apologetic addressing free-thinkers, and The Analyst in 1734, which critiqued the foundations of calculus and significantly influenced mathematical development.

Berkeley's theory of immaterialism posits that material substances do not exist independently of perception, asserting that objects like tables and chairs are merely ideas in the mind. His critique of abstraction further solidified his arguments for immaterialism. He passed away in 1753 in Oxford and was interred at Christ Church Cathedral. Berkeley's philosophical legacy has endured, with a resurgence of interest in his ideas post-World War II, particularly regarding perception, the distinction between primary and secondary qualities, and the role of language in philosophy.