George BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley (1685-1753) was an Irish philosopher, Anglican bishop, and one of the major figures of early modern empiricism. Educated at Trinity College Dublin, Berkeley became known for his forceful critique of material substance and for the doctine later called immaterialism or subjective idealism. His major philosophical works include A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, and An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, all of which helped shape later debates in metaphysics, epistemology, perception, language, mind, and religious philosophy.Berkeley's philosophy stands between Locke and Hume in the development of British empiricism. He accepted the central importance of experience while rejecting the idea that experience gives access to an independently existing material substance. Instead, he argued that the world known to human beings consists of ideas perceived by minds, sustained ultimately by God. His thought remains essential for readers of classic philosophy, early modern philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, idealism, empiricism, and the history of philosophical arguments about perception and reality. Read More Read Less