Introduction to Philosophy

Achieve Test Prep: Philosophy

Locke argues that that the qualities we experience, both primary and secondary, must reside in something; therefore, there must be external substances of which these qualities are a necessary part. Locke confesses such substances as we know, have no clear or distinct idea, nothing but the unknown support those qualities. Yet Locke was unable to resolve the nature of the external substances in which these emitted qualities are ultimately present. Berkeley: Reality Depends on Perception George Berkeley was Ireland’s most famous philosopher and was committed to education, particularly in America. He made contributions to Harvard, Yale, and Columbia and California established a university in honor of him, Berkeley. Berkeley outlines his views in A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. He defended idealist positions that maintains there exists no matter, only sensible objects, whose existence is to be perceived. He denies the existence of any independently existing world because all that we know are the ideas we find presented to our conscious minds, then it follows that we can never know a material world that supposedly lies outside of our own personal experiences. The only things that exist are our minds and ideas which have come to be known as subjective idealism. This means that objects do not exist independently of consciousness. The only things that exist are conscious minds and the ideas subjectively presented to the conscious mind. Berkeley’s view attempted to resolve the fundamental difficulty with Locke’s epistemology by rejecting Locke’s distinction between primary and secondary qualities, and Locke’s commonsense belief in external objects. Berkeley stated that there are only two ways that we can be aware of such substances: • Through our senses: Because our senses only produce mental ideas, they cannot, by definition, provide any indication of possible external substances • Through reason: There is a lack of necessary connection between mental ideas and external substances Berkeley did acknowledge some of the inherent difficulties with his subjective idealist view of knowledge and reality, conceding that the things of the world are nothing more than ideas in the mind of God, the “Author of Nature,” produced by the will of another and more powerful spirit. Berkeley finally submits to conventional thought, bringing God as a vehicle for insuring existence of the external world. Hume: Understanding Reality Demands Skepticism David Hume is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical skeptics of all time. In epistemology, skepticism includes positions such as doubting all assumptions until they are proven or claiming that no knowledge is possible in any circumstances. It is a school of thought that casts doubt on the possibility of achieving genuine knowledge. Hume is outraged by what he considers to be the worst kind of philosophical hypocrisy, as he believes there is no observed or rational evidence for God or traditional metaphysics. Hume claims that we have no good reason to believe in the laws of science that are used to organize, explain, and predict events in our world. Hume’s most monumental work was An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding : Of the Origins of Ideas, which details his core arguments, attacking the possibility of knowing an external world. He also highlights two principles that are integral to

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