2. 4. 5. 1. 3. What is an example of a secondary quality? What is sense data? 4. 3. Explain the difference between direct and indirect realism. How does the argument from illusion attack direct realism? Have answers in front of me. 5. Do you think we perceive the world through a ‘veil of perception’?

Idealism Idealism is the view that what is real depends upon the mind. In other words: all that exists are minds and their ideas. Physical objects are no more than a collection of sensations appearing in our minds. Therefore all objects of perception are mind-dependent. Idealism is an anti-realist stance to matter.

Bishop Berkeley (1685-1753) Bishop of Cloyne, in Ireland. 2nd of the 3 great British Empiricists (after Locke and before Hume) Wanted to save Locke’s empiricism from the threat of materialism (the view that everything, including mental/spiritual entities can be given a material explanation) and atheism. Pronounced like barcalay Empiricism – position which holds that our beliefs and knowledge, must be based on experience.

Berkeley’s idealism Rejects the existence of physical objects in an external world independent of us. Claims that the ordinary objects of perception – tables, chairs, trees etc. – are all mind-dependent. More exactly: claims that they must be perceived in order to exist. Hence his famous slogan: esse est percipi (aut percipere) – to be is to be perceived (or to perceive). Task: Using an object you perceive in the room explain what Berkeley meant by his famous slogan.

However Berkeley did not intend to deny the existence of what we normally think of as physical objects, but rather he denies that physical objects have an existence independent of our perception. How does he do this? Read pp. 36 – 7 blue book Condense this information into two sentences. Empiricism – position which holds that our beliefs and knowledge, must be based on experience.

Berkeley’s Attack on IR recap In his ‘Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous’ Berkeley sets out to demonstrate that both secondary and primary qualities are mind-dependent, making rival realist theories unsatisfactory. Berkeley is in the character of Philonous and Hylas plays the role of a realist. We looked at this when we did criticisms of IR – that it leads to scepticism about the nature of the external world.

Why did Berkeley believe idealism? Because he believed: That primary and secondary qualities exist only in our minds, and: That the ordinary objects of perception (chairs, tables etc) are just ‘bundles’ of their primary and secondary qualities.

Berkeley on primary and secondary qualities Because secondary qualities vary greatly with the context of the perceiver, it is natural to say that they exist in our minds, rather than in the object itself. Berkeley argues that primary qualities also vary greatly with the context of the perceiver, and hence that they too exist only in our minds. One example of this: shape – a penny looks circular face-on, but oval from an angle. In Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Berkeley gives lots of other examples, including size, motion and solidity.

Perceptual relativity in primary qualities Shape: A circular coin looks oval from an angle. Apparently flat surfaces look bumpy through microscopes. Size: Objects which seem large to a ‘mite’ (a small insect) seem small to us. Motion: Movement which seem fast from close- up seems slow from a distance (think of the motion of a distant plane). Solidity: Objects which seem hard to one creature would seem soft to a creature with ‘greater force and firmness of limbs’. How would an IDR respond to this?

Berkeley on the objects of perception Berkeley argues that the ordinary objects of perception are nothing more than a ‘bundle’ of their primary and secondary qualities. Against Locke, and the rationalists: he denies that there is an underlying ‘substance’ which has these qualities, and which exists independently of them. (Rationalism = knowledge is innate or gained by reason rather from sense experience.) In support of this position he points out that the only things we experience, when we observe things, are their primary and secondary qualities. In simpler terms: Berkeley argues that if an object can only be conceived with both primary & secondary qualities then our ideas of secondary qualities are inseparable from the primary.  if we accept that our perceptions of secondary qualities exist only in the mind, we must accept too that our perceptions of primary qualities must be in the mind. THEREFORE: We don’t experience an underlying substance which exists independently of these qualities – so, if empiricism is right, then we can’t even form an idea of such a substance.

Key question: Do we think that what a thought is about – e.g. a tree – is the same as the thing the thought is about? The Master Argument Try to conceive of a tree which exists outside of any mind – a tree which no one has any awareness of. In attempting to establish this tree, you may think of the idea of a tree hidden in a forest somewhere no one has ever been. But by doing this, you are constructing the idea in your mind! Since any supposed thought of an object outside any mind can only take place in someone’s mind, the idea of a mind-independent object is contradictory. Ok, but what objections can we think of?

Draw a diagram that shows the differences between direct realism, indirect realism, and idealism.

5 Mark Question Explain why, for Berkeley, there cannot be a distinction between primary and secondary qualities. 10 minutes. (3/4 minutes planning time). 5 A full, clear and precise explanation. The student makes logical links between precisely identified points, with no significant redundancy. 4 A clear explanation, with logical links, but some imprecision, redundancy. 3 The substantive content of the explanation is present and there is an attempt at logical linking. But the explanation is not full and/or precise. Is this question asking about idealism? NO.

Homework Read p. 60 – 62 in Lacewing and make notes on Berkeley’s four arguments against mind-independent objects. Read through the ‘two good reasons for idealism’. Answer this question: Which ‘good reason’ do you think is more valuable in promoting idealism? Explain your reasons. Due next lesson.