Author Question: Discuss George Berkeley's ideas regarding the whether objects exist independently of our perception ... (Read 69 times)

berenicecastro

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 581
Discuss George Berkeley's ideas regarding the whether objects exist independently of our perception of them.
 
  Need some ideas to start my assigment Thank you.

Question 2

David Hume is widely considered to be one of the greatest philosophical skeptics of all time..
 
  Discuss the meaning of skepticism in epistemology.



ergserg

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 338
Answer to Question 1

- George Berkeley: subjective idealism (the belief that only ideas and conscious minds have actual existence) expressed as esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived).
- Using the example of the table, Berkeley admits that there must be something which continues to exist when we are not perceiving it, and seeing the table gives us reason to believe that there is something that persists even when we are not seeing it. But he thinks that this something cannot be radically different in nature from what we see, and cannot be independent of seeing altogether, though it must be independent of our seeing. He is thus led to regard the real table as an idea in the mind of God.
- What the senses immediately tell us is not the truth about the object as it is apart from us, but only the truth about certain sense-data which, so far as we can see, depend upon the relations between us and the object. Thus what we directly see and feel is merely appearance, which we believe to be a sign of some reality behind.

Answer to Question 2

- In epistemology, skepticism is a school of thought that casts doubt on the possibility of achieving genuine knowledge.
- Skepticism includes positions such as doubting all assumptions until proved or claiming that no knowledge is possible in any circumstances.



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
 

Did you know?

Most women experience menopause in their 50s. However, in 1994, an Italian woman gave birth to a baby boy when she was 61 years old.

Did you know?

To maintain good kidney function, you should drink at least 3 quarts of water daily. Water dilutes urine and helps prevent concentrations of salts and minerals that can lead to kidney stone formation. Chronic dehydration is a major contributor to the development of kidney stones.

Did you know?

There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.

Did you know?

About one in five American adults and teenagers have had a genital herpes infection—and most of them don't know it. People with genital herpes have at least twice the risk of becoming infected with HIV if exposed to it than those people who do not have genital herpes.

Did you know?

Many of the drugs used by neuroscientists are derived from toxic plants and venomous animals (such as snakes, spiders, snails, and puffer fish).

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library