Berkeley, George - Andre Gallois (essay date 1974)
Andre Gallois (essay date 1974)
SOURCE: “Berkeley's Master Argument,” in Philosophical Review, Vol. 83, January, 1974, pp. 55-69.
[In the following essay, Gallois considers the role imaging and perception play in the “master argument” of Berkeley's philosophy.]
In the first dialogue of the Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, the following famous argument occurs which I shall refer to as the master argument.
Philonous: “… If you can conceive it possible for any mixture or combination of qualities, or any sensible object whatever, to exist without the mind, then I will grant it actually to be so.”
Hylas: “If it comes to that the point will soon be decided. What more easy to conceive of a tree or a house existing by itself, independent of, and unperceived by any mind whatsoever? I do at this moment conceive them existing after that manner.”
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[The entire page is 5899 words long]
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