The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley

by Kenneth P. Winkler

Overview

George Berkeley is one of the greatest and most influential modern philosophers. In defending the immaterialism for which he is most famous, he redirected modern thinking about the nature of objectivity and the mind's capacity to come to terms with it. Along the way, he made striking and influential proposals concerning the psychology of the senses, the workings of language, the aims of science, and the scope of mathematics. In this Companion volume a team of distinguished authors not only examines Berkeley's achievements but also his neglected contributions to moral and political philosophy, his writings on economics and development, and his defense of religious commitment and religious life. The volume places Berkeley's achievements in the context of the many social and intellectual traditions - philosophical, scientific, ethical, and religious - to which he fashioned a distinctive response.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139815338
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/19/2005
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Philosophy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

1. Berkeley's life and works David Berman; 2. Was Berkeley an empiricist or a rationalist? Michael Ayers; 3. Berkeley's notebooks Robert McKim; 4. Berkeley's new theory of vision and its reception Margaret Atherton; 5. Berkeley and the doctrine of signs Kenneth P. Winkler; 6. Berkeley's argument for immaterialism Anthony Grayling; 7. Berkeley on minds and agency Philip D. Cummins; 8. Berkeley's natural philosophy and philosophy of science Lisa Downing; 9. Berkeley's philosophy of mathematics Douglas M. Jesseph; 10. Berkeley's moral and political philosophy Stephen Darwall; 11. Berkeley's economic writings Partick Kelly; 12. Berkeley on religion Stephen R. Clark.

Editorial Reviews

This excellent addition to the Cambridge Companions series brings together contributions by a number of outstanding Berkeley scholars...Among the virtues of this collection is its scope. Berkeley’s epistemological and metaphysical doctrines are, of course, examined in detail, but there are also essays on his views about mathematics, science, ethics, politics and religion. The book includes an excellent, topically arranged bibliography."
-Charles McCraken, Michigan State University, British Journal for the History of Philosophy


"The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley is an excellent resource...There is undoubtedly plenty of material here for specialists to engage with."
-Nick Jones, University of Leeds, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies


"An impressive collection...The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley is an excellent volume, covering a wide range of topics — from metaphysical, epistemological and ethical issues to his philosophy of mathematics and natural science, as for sure his deep concern for religious matters. It will be helpful to students and of great interest to Berkeley scholars."
-Gabriele Mras, University of Vienna, Metapsychology

From the Publisher