George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher, was one of the most influential thinkers of Modern philosophy, which was established by Rene Descartes and his successors Bacon, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Melbranche and many others. He was the founder of immaterialism, a standpoint which denies existence of any kind of material substance or their modifications (sense experience) and offers direct opposition to Newton’s physics and Locke’s empiricism. Berkeley’s ontology includes only spiritual substances like finite human mind and infinite God and ascribes existence only to perceptible things and beings (esse est percipi). Although his immaterialistic philosophy is problematic, it still has an important influence on modern philosophical debates, especially phenomenalism.
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»Zdi se mi jasno, da obstoj duhovne bitnosti, ki je neskončno modra, dobra in močna, povsem zadostuje za razlago vseh naravnih pojavov.«
»Na podlagi tega, kar je bilo rečeno, je jasno, da ni nobene druge substance, razen duhovne bitnosti ali tistega, ki zaznava.«