An Idealist Immaterialist: George Berkeley

Year 2015, Issue: 61, 153 - 185, 15.07.2015

Ahmet Erhan Şekerci

Abstract

George Berkeley is one of the most important thinkers of British
empiricist tradition and the Enlightenment. He who was a philosopher and
cleric sought a life after his ideals; he placed immaterialism, which has
been subject to fierce criticism not only during his lifetime but also after
him, in the center of his system of thought and spent efforts to make it understood.
In this article, we will try to state how this view of Berkeley who
is a unique and passionate idealist has shaped the immaterialist thought.
We will also examine how his view of the abstract concepts of religion,
morality and God that are the main elements of his immaterialism have influenced
his thought. We will also try to discover whether he is an idealist
or immaterialist, or he anticipated an immaterialism that includes idealism.

Keywords

Locke, Berkeley, İmmaterialism, İdealism, Occasionalism, God, Religion and Morals

İDEALİST BİR MATERYALİST: GEORGE BERKELEY

Abstract

George Berkeley, İngiliz deneyci geleneğinin ve aydınlanma düşüncesinin
en önemli düşünürlerinden birisidir. İdealleri uğruna yaşamış
bir filozof ve din adamı olarak Berkeley, immateryalizm gibi, gerek kendi
zamanında gerekse sonrasında oldukça ciddi eleştirilere maruz kalmış
bir kavramı, düşünce dünyasının merkezine yerleştirmiş ve ömrü boyunca
da onun anlaşılması için çaba sarfetmiştir. Biz bu makalemizde, düşünce
tarihinin en önemli idealistlerinden biri olan kabul edilen Berkeley’in,
bu kendine has ve tutkulu bakış açısının immateryalist düşünceyi nasıl
şekillendirdiğini ortaya koyacağız. Bu arada onun immateryalizminin ana
unsurları olan din, ahlak, Tanrı ve soyut kavramlara dair görüşlerinin, düşüncesindeki
etkilerinin görülmesini sağlayacağız. En önemlisi ise onun,
sadece bir idealist mi yoksa bir immateryalist mi olduğu, ya da idealizmi
içinde barındıran bir immateryalizmi öngörüp öngörmediğini irdelemeye
çalışacağız.

Keywords

Locke, Berkeley, İmmateryalizm, idealizm, Okazyonalizm, Tanrı, Din ve Ahlak

References

• • A.C. Grayling, “Berkeley’s argument for immaterialism”, The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley, ed. Kenneth P.Winkler, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-2005.
• • Acton, H.B., “George Berkeley”, Maxmillian Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2. Edition, c. I, 2006.
• • Açıköz, H.Mustafa, Berkeley ve İmmateryalist Metafiziği, Elis Yayınları, Ankara-2003.
• • Avramide, Anita, Other Minds, Routledge, Oxon-2000.
• • Bennett, Jonathan, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Central Themes, Oxford University Press, 7.baskı, Oxford-1991
• • Berkeley, George, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, (içinde), J.B.Lippincott&Co, Philadelphia-1881.
• • ………………….., “An Essay Towards Preventing the Ruin of Great Britain”, The Works of George Berkeley (içinde), vol.III, Londra-1820
• • ………………….., Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher, ed. David Berman, Routledge, London and Newyork-1993.
• • ………………….., Hylas ile Philonous Arasında Üç Konuşma, ter. K.Sahir Sel, Sosyal Yayınlar, 1996.
• • …………………..., “Siris: A Chain of Philosophical Reflection and Inquiries Concerning The Virtues of Tar Water”, The Works of George Berkeley (içinde) vol. III, London-1820.
• • …………………..., İnsan Bilgisinin İlkeleri Üzerine, çev: Halil Turan, Bilim ve Sanat, Ankara-1996.
• • Broadie, Alexander, “Roger Bacon”, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, ed. Ted Honderich, Oxford, Oxford Universitiy Press, Oxford-1995.
• • Brown, Stuart, “The Critical Reception of Malebranche” The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche, ed. Steven Nadler, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-2006
• • Burnyeat, M.F., “Idealism and Greek Philosophy: What Descartes Saw and Berkeley Missed” The Philosophical Review, , XCI, No:1, 1982.
• • Caffentzis, G.C., “Locke, Berkeley and Hume as Phisophers of Money”, George Berkeley: Religion and Science in the Age of Enlightenment, ed: Silvia Parigi, Springer, 2010
• • Cevizci, Ahmet, Felsefe Tarihi, Say Yayınları, 5.baskı, İstanbul-2014
• • Cummins, Philips D., “Berkeley on minds and agency”, The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley, ed. Kenneth P.Winkler, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-2005.
• • David Berman, “Introduction”, Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher, (içinde) ed. David Berman, Routledge, London and Newyork-1993.
• • Fogelin, Robert J., Berkeley and the Principles of Human Knowledge, Routledge, New York, 2005.
• • …………………., Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Berkeley and the Principles of Human Knowledge, Routledge-2003
• • Franck, Richard, Modern Philosophy the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Routledge, London,-2004.
• • Fraser, Alexander Campbell, “George Berkeley”, The Works of George Berkeley, ed. A.C.Fraser, Oxford-1901.
• • Garrett, Aaron, Berkeley’s Three Dialogues, Continuum International Publishing, London-2008
• • h t t p : / / o n l i n e b o o k s . l i b r a r y . u p e n n . e d u / w e b b i n / b o o k / lookupname?key=Berkeley%2C%20George%2C%201685-1753, 30.10.2014.
• • http://tigger.uic.edu/~hilbert/Images%20of%20Berkeley/Berk_life.htm 30.10.2014
• • Jolley, Nicholas, “Berkeley and Malebranche on Causality and Volition, Central Themes in Early Modern Philosophy, ed. J.A Cover; Mark Kulstad, Hackett Publishing Company, 1990
• • Krauth, Charles P., “Prolegomena”, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, (içinde), J.B.Lippincott&Co, Philadelphia-1881.
• • Locke, J. Locke, İnsan Anlığı Üzerine Bir Deneme çev. Vehbi Hacıkadiroğlu, Kabalcı Yayınevi, İstanbul-1996.
• • Muehlmann, Robert, Berkeley’s Metaphysics: Structural, Interpretive and Critical Essays, Penn State Press, Pennsylvania-2010
• • Robert, John Russell, A Metaphysics for Mob, The Philosophy of George Berkeley, Oxford University Press, Oxford-2007.
• • The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers, ed. J.O. Urmson, Hawthorn Books Inc, New York-1990
• • Timuçin, Afşar, Düşünce Tarihi, BDS Yayınları, İstanbul-1992.
• • Winkler, Kenneth. P., “Introduction”, The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley, ed. Kenneth P.Winkler, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-2005.
• • ………………, “The New Hume”, The Philosophical Review, vol.100, no:4, 1991.