|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
For Berkeley, God is the great architect of the universe and the originator of the ideas in the mind, concerning his creation of sense experiences. ... How God is therefore required to be both creator and sustainer of the mind and all the ideas that exists. In proposing his reasons for this conclusion, Berkeley claimed he was simply adhering to common sense. Human knowledge of the universe has therefore been derived from the perceptions reported by those people. Berkeley said that God was the author of human perceptions. To Berkeley, this connection of our thoughts with Gods thoughts was the ultimate proof of the validity of our ideas.
Having assured himself of the existence of his own spirit, Berkeley devoted himself to determining its nature: the spirit is both active, a producer of ideas, and passive, a receptacle for ideas. ... God presents to human souls and produces in them the ideas that impress us. The constant relationship with which God determines the ideas of spirits are the so-called laws of nature. They are the language with which God reveals Himself and speaks to us. Berkeley assumes the view that ideas are passive and only perceivable in a mind. ... 1
It is important to stress the idea that God shows people the ideas in his mind, and these ideas make up the reality beheld by the human mind. Berkeley goes on to state that these ideas are existent only when a mind is perceiving them. Therefore, for any person to perceive something, the idea must be in the realm of God first. ... 2 The passivity of the spirit gave Berkeley the means of proving the existence of other finite spirits, independent of his own, and the existence of God. ... 3 Edwards states, The latter could not exist apart from the former, but the ideas I the minds of human being are caused in them by God and sustained by him when they do not perceive them.
Approximate Word count = 1583
Approximate Pages = 6.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|