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General Philosophy · Lecture 10 of 33 · 9:30

2.6 George Berkeley and Idealism

2.6 George Berkeley and Idealism on YouTube

Study guide

What this lecture covers

This lecture introduces Nicolas Malebranche, a French Cartesian whose theory of occasionalism provides the key background for understanding George Berkeley. It follows the discussion of Locke by returning to the question of what makes one thing cause another, and uses Malebranche's answer to set up Berkeley's more radical theory.

Malebranche argued that true causation requires a necessary connection between cause and effect, and that only God's will meets this standard, since ordinary events like one billiard ball striking another are only logically contingent, not necessary. The lecture then shows how Berkeley adapts this reasoning into immaterialism, holding that objects are nothing more than perceptions directly caused by God.

Key ideas

  • Necessary connection: Malebranche argued a real cause must necessitate its effect; since we can conceive one billiard ball moving without the second one moving, physical contact cannot be a true cause.
  • Occasionalism: only God's will provides the necessary connection required for real causation, so physical events like collisions are merely the 'occasion' for God to act.
  • Perception as God's action: Malebranche extended this to perception, arguing God directly causes our perceptions, since nothing about physical objects necessitates that we perceive them.
  • Berkeley's immaterialism: Berkeley radicalizes this by dropping the material objects entirely, holding that objects simply are the perceptions God causes in us.
  • A response to scepticism: by identifying objects with perceptions, Berkeley claims to dissolve Locke's problem of how we can know that perceptions correspond to real external objects.
  • Berkeley's instrumentalism: like Newton, Berkeley treats physical science as valuable for prediction even without believing in the reality of the entities (such as forces) it describes.

Before you watch

  • Watch lecture 2.5 on Locke, since Berkeley's theory directly challenges Locke's account of perception and primary/secondary qualities.
  • Recall Newton's instrumentalism from lecture 2.4, which Berkeley's own instrumentalism echoes.

Check your understanding

  1. Why does Malebranche think physical contact cannot be a genuine cause?
  2. What is occasionalism, and what role does God play in it?
  3. How does Berkeley's immaterialism build on and go beyond Malebranche's occasionalism?
  4. In what sense is Berkeley an instrumentalist about physical science despite denying material objects exist?

Vocabulary

occasionalism (noun)
The theory that God is the only true cause of events, with physical events merely providing the occasion for God to act.
Malebranche's occasionalism made God the sole true cause.
necessary connection (noun)
A link between cause and effect so strong that the effect could not fail to happen.
Malebranche argued only God's will has a necessary connection to its effect.
contingent (adjective)
Possible but not guaranteed to be true; could have been otherwise.
A billiard ball's motion causing another to move is only logically contingent.
conceive (verb)
To imagine or form an idea of something in the mind.
We can conceive one ball moving without the other moving.
collision (noun)
An event in which two objects hit each other.
A collision between billiard balls seems like an obvious cause.
immaterialism (noun)
The view that physical objects do not exist independently of being perceived.
Berkeley's immaterialism denies that matter exists apart from perception.
radicalize (verb)
To make an idea more extreme.
Berkeley radicalizes Malebranche's occasionalism.
dissolve (a problem) (verb)
To make a problem disappear by changing how it is framed, rather than solving it directly.
Berkeley claims to dissolve the problem of matching perceptions to objects.
correspond (verb)
To match or relate closely to something else.
Locke worried whether perceptions correspond to real external objects.
instrumentalism (noun)
The view that a scientific theory only needs to give correct predictions, not describe reality.
Berkeley's instrumentalism echoes Newton's approach to physical science.
Cartesian (adjective)
Relating to the philosophy of Descartes.
Malebranche was a French Cartesian thinker.
necessitate (verb)
To make something absolutely required to happen.
A real cause must necessitate its effect, Malebranche argued.
background (philosophical) (noun)
Earlier context or ideas needed to understand a later topic.
Occasionalism provides key background for Berkeley.
radical (adjective)
Extreme, going far beyond usual or moderate positions.
Berkeley's theory is a more radical version of occasionalism.
extend (an argument) (verb)
To apply reasoning to a new or wider case.
Malebranche extended his reasoning to perception itself.
will (God's) (noun)
The intention or decision of a being, especially God.
Only God's will provides a necessary connection.
logically (adverb)
According to strict rules of reasoning.
The connection is only logically contingent, not necessary.
occasion (for action) (noun)
A moment or circumstance that provides the opportunity for something to happen.
Physical events are merely the occasion for God to act.
adapt (an idea) (verb)
To change an idea slightly to fit a new use.
Berkeley adapts Malebranche's reasoning into immaterialism.
value (for prediction) (noun)
The usefulness of something, especially for making forecasts.
Berkeley treats science as valuable for prediction.

Chapters

From the YouTube description

A series of lectures delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise the 8-week General Philosophy course and were delivered in late 2009.

Slides for all his lectures can be found here:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/people/peter-millican

Learn more about Oxford:
http://www.ox.ac.uk

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