George Berkeley's Social Media
Shmoop eavesdrops on your favorite critic's online convos.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am finally on FB. Hello, everyone!
Bishop Berkeley! My day, nay, my life is now complete, knowing that I shall be able to find you here.
Oh, how I have missed you and your Wit! Thank you for gracing us with your words here. I only hope we are worthy of this gift that you have so generously bestowed on us.
Dear Bishop Berkeley, I send you greetings from the bottom of my heart! There is no earthly being I would rather greet, you who have every virtue a man can possess.
Well, well, well. I thought I had stumbled across the page of Bishop Berkeley, but from the tone of the above comments, I must have made a mistake. It must be Saint Berkeley, instead! LOLOL.
Their comments express no more than an appreciation for a fellow witster, I assure you, Sir Isaac. Besides, you of all people should not be joking about religious matters.
What? Are you accusing me of being an atheist? That's preposterous!
No, of course not, Sir Isaac. I know you purport to be a man of God. It is your scientific principles that are the problem. Your account of a universe governed by purely mechanical laws makes God almost superfluous. Even more than that, it is your emphasis on the material nature of the world that inevitably leads to atheism.
What? My principles of alchemy show the material universe to be infused with the spirit of God.
I have no doubt that this is your sincere belief. But I'm afraid you simply haven't thought the matter through carefully enough (pun intended!). For once you begin to examine the concept of matter, you discover that it is full of paradoxes and contradictions. This then leads inevitably to a general state of skepticism, where one is convinced of the unknowability of everything. From this, it is but a small step to atheism—the belief in God being just one more claim that has become doubtful. You, Sir Isaac, are an unwitting advocate of atheism. Repent your materialist principles before it is too late!
Jonathan, Joseph, Richard, Alexander, what on earth do you see in this guy? This is your saintly hero? He seems like a total bore to me. Sorry, Bishop, but I need to keep it real.
Hi there, Bishop! Good to see you fighting the good fight against those ignoble materialists out there. Not sure you're going to win, but I always appreciate a fierce battle.
Hello, David! Good to know you're still out there (as an immaterial spirit, of course, not as a material object). But I thought my fellow empiricist would have my back in this battle against materialism. Are you not with me, bro?
I knew my empiricist brother wouldn't let me down. So, if all I know is ideas, how can I know anything about a non-mental world outside of the mind?
I agree with you—we can't know anything of this sort. In fact, I show that the arguments that we use to establish the existence of an external world are all based around the notions of constancy and coherence. And these arguments fail.
Sounds good, my man—I'll have to look at your writings sometime. But right now I am too excited, as I think we are in total agreement. I think you can see that the only way to establish that there is a world out there is by appealing, as I do, to God. You, too, recognize that all objects are just ideas in the mind of God, don't you? Will you stand with me right now, brother, and say it with me? Can you do that, Brother David?
Much as I would like to be swept along in your religious fervor, Bishop, here I cannot go along with you. It may be that the only way to firmly establish that there's a world out there is by appealing to God. But the problem is I don't think we can firmly establish that, since the appeal to God is arbitrary. And what's more, I don't think we need to show that there's a world out there. Whether an external world exists shall forever remain doubtful—as a theoretical matter. Practically, of course, we act as if it does. But theoretical belief in an external world is not necessary. We just don't know one way or the other. And you know what? That's okay.
Bishop Berkeley has locked himself in his room and will not come out! The reports are that he has been crying ceaselessly for days on end. What have you done?
My dear Friend, it is such a pleasure to see your presence on Facebook. My Spirits are soaring and will remain soaring for the entire day—I'm sure of it.