h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: George Berkeley: sceptic, philosopher and bishop - A3390554
Author: Recumbentman, one-star pote F103872?thread=536093 - U208656

Another of my philosophical heroes. I did my final year research paper on Berkeley's theory of time, as a philosophy undergraduate in the early seventies. Go George!

Looks interesting on first quick read

I'll give it more time later today

Six Frenchbean

Thanks Fb! Just done a few tweaks (I never can leave anything alone).

Fascinating

Good one, Recumbentman I'm no philosopher, but I understood the line of reasoning perfectly

Is Berkeley's philosophy called 'Immaterialism'? It's brilliant. However, I'm not surprised it didn't catch on. And it's very interesting that his philosophy led him to religion

Only one picky comment - Quotations could be in italics, rather than "-"

Six Fb

Yes, immaterialism -- that's the stuff!

Good stuff, R!

A typo:

any hand it the publication --> any hand in the publication

There's something odd about the Locke footnote. It has:

substania';

Is there something missing or mistyped there?

In general, you have used "double quotes" but the h2g2 standard says that these should all be 'single quotes'.

Thank you G! to edit

Better.

There is a word for an internal cleansing potion, but I can't think of it. Not an emetic, nor a laxative . . . some kind of Brillo for bellies.

purgative?

That's probably it. Nasty word though.

Hello Recumbentman -

Wow - this is an interesting piece! I knew nothing of the man, so it is most enlightening.

One thing - do we know anything of his earlier years? Where he was born, where he went to school, who his parents were?

Also, would it be appropriate to place a footnote mentioning UC Berkeley in California where you mention that many placenames of the same name appeared?

Great entry!

Woodpigeon

Thanks

We know he was born in Kilkenny, and went to school there (as had Jonathan Swift) but is that to the point? It's all in the linked site, or not far to seek anyway.

His father owned Dysart Castle, and came from England, though George always called himself Irish (unlike the later Duke of Wellington who said "if a man is born in a stable, does that make him a horse?"). There is a suggestion that G's dad may have been the illegitimate child of some noble Berkeley -- I think there was a pretty rakish one around Charles II's time.

I could mention Berkeley Calif., but apparently there are many Berkeleys and they are all named after George for his poem.

I looked at a biography the other day, it didn't mention any close relationship with the nobility . . . just that George's grandfather suffered for his loyalty to Charles I. He was a "collector" at the port of Belfast, his son (G's father) was collector for some other Irish port, and a gentleman farmer.

Is a gentleman farmer one that doesn't get his hands dirty?

I guess so.

The phrase was used metaphorically for Mendelssohn; he was allowed to mingle with the guests at soirées where he played, because he was a kind of musical "gentleman farmer". This usage implies nothing more or less than that he was independently wealthy and did not rely on music for his living.

Researching the works of Berleley for this, I read in "A Word to the Wise" a report by Berkeley himself that a "kitchen wench" of his once refused to carry out cinders on the grounds that she was descended from noble Irish stock.

I seem to remember posting this before, but I hope you will permit me to repeat myself: Liszt ended the artist/punter segregation when he unhooked and lifted down the velvet rope at a London gathering. Nowadays guests are sometimes allowed to mingle with the musicians, if they pay extra

I've taken out (temporarily at least) the story of Esther Van wanting Berkeley to publish Swift's poem. The person who I heard it from, several years ago, no longer remembers having said it, it doesn't come up in Swift or Berkeley's biographies, and I'll have to ask some specialists about it.

Weird

Hi Recumbentman,

I know this may seem picky to you and others, but each time I've read this Entry I get hung up on the words:

'is Ireland's greatest philosopher'

Is this a fact or your opinion? Is he the best known, most prolific or best-loved? Or the person everyone in Ireland would think of if you asked them to name their greatest philosopher?


Sorry - I almost asked you this a while ago, then didn't, then read it again and it still jumped out so here I am.

Jules

You know you have a point there. I take it as a given, no one in history comes close, but it remains a value judgement and a matter of opinion. I'll change it to either "probably" or "best-known" which are more . . . balanced.

Will "considered" do?

Luverly