The Cambridge Companion to Berkeley

by Kenneth P. Winkler

In defending the immaterialism for which he is most famous, George Berkeley, one of the most influential modern philosophers, 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, workings of language, aims of science, and scope of mathematics. A team of distinguished contributors not only examines Berkeley's achievements in this Companion, but also his neglected contributions to moral and political philosophy, writings on economics and development, and defense of religious commitment and religious life.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference

472 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2005

Reviews

[Frantisek Spinka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of essays by renowned Berkeley scholars (Luce, Atherton, Winkler, Berman etc.) It goes far beyond being just an introductory literature since it dives considerably deep into ontological and metaphysical issues behind Berkeley’s philosophy.

[Nathan Ormond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great systematic overview of Berkeley. A little dry and dense in some areas but very thorough - multiple authors cover Berkeleys thought from various perspectives and certain passages of Berkeleys are covered as they pertain to multiple domains of discourse.

[Kristopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection of essays on Berkeley's works. I, however, disagree fundamentally with the picture of Berkeley's take on science that Lisa Downing puts forward. Apparently, however, hers is the received view of Berkeley's philosophy of science. I am currently re-working my essay that both criticizes Downing, and puts forth a novel interpretation of Berkeley's science. It was well received at the Midsouth conference, and with any luck I will be sending it off for publication soon enough--which could (since I'm right) change the way that Berkeley is interpreted and taught. That's my goal anyway.