CHAPTER XXII - BERKELEY
THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT ARE THE TURNING POINTS IN THE NOVEL.
CHAPTER XXII - BERKELEY
THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT ARE THE TURNING POINTS IN THE NOVEL.
I. IS THE MAJOR GOD--NO ANSWER? WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE, AND WHO ANTICIPATED SUCH A CONCLUSION? HOW DO YOU KNOW? WHAT WERE THE CLUES?
II. BERKELEY-what is the paradox associated with his philosophy, a paradox that often drives the skeptics including THE Dr. Johnson no less to dismiss his conclusions.
A. AN EMPIRICIST WHO BELIEVED IN GOD--influence of Locke?.
B. WE EXIST IN THE MIND OF GOD WHO CAUSES EVERYTHING TO OCCUR--apply this to the novel so far. What have Alberto and Sophie begun to conclude?
C. A MAJOR CLUE IS GIVEN TO THE MYSTERY OF HILDE' AND HER FATHER
1. HILDE'S FATHER COULD BE THE CAUSE---essential for Sophie's quest
2. ARE WE SPIRITS IN THE MIND OF GOD?
3. IS HILDE AN ANGEL?
III. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?--what do we know to be really real?
A. CAN WE ABSOLUTELY PROVE THAT THE MATERIAL WORLD EXISTS?
1. I TOUCH, FEEL ETC. THE TREE TRUNK--I am aware of qualities; not the substance
2. IDEAS EXIST--the cause of sensation that produces the ideas = God
3. GOD ORDERS --his 'natural laws' help us make sense of the universe
4. WE PERCEIVE THE EFFECTS OF WHAT GOD DOES-the ideas
B. WHAT ABOUT IDEAS? - IS GOD THEIR SOURCE?
C. THE MATERIAL WORLD EXITS ONLY IN SO FAR AS IDEAS OF ‘X’ EXIST IN THE MIND OF THE PERCEIVED OR GOD---What do we really know of the material world?
D. ‘X’ EXISTS, THEN EVEN IF WE ARE NOT THERE TO PERCEIVE IT?
E. GOD / THE SOUL IS THE CAUSE OF THE NATURAL WORLD
1 God causes us to feel pain when we hit the table?.
2. We can be hypnotized to feel sensations.
IV. WHERE DO HILDE AND ALBERTO KNAG AND KNOX EXIST?
A. DO THEY HAVE PHYSICAL REALITY?
B. DO SOPHIE AND HILDE ETC. LIVE IN A DREAM WORLD--What am I hitting in a dream? (p. 282).
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A TURNING POINT FOR SOPHIE? [WHAT BEGINS TO DAWN ON HER?] |
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C. ONCE CAN PERHAPS TOO EASILY DISMISS BERKELEY, BUT APPLY THESE EVENTS TO HIS PHILOSOPHY:
D. NOTICE THAT HE IS USING LOCKE AGAINST LOCKE. IS HE AN EMPIRICIST OR RATIONALIST? LOTS OF IRONY.
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
Check the Supplementary Readings (ARCHIVE SEARCH) (Section 8) for primary source excerpts from Berkeley.
Click here for an article summarizing Berkeley's views (with primary source citations).