Cover; Half Title; Series Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Chapter 1: The context of Berkeley's Three Dialogues; Historical background; Berkeley's life and works; Chapter 2: The sceptical challenge; The threats of scepticism, solipsism and egoism; The new science and the new philosophy; Introducing Hylas and Philonous; Chapter 3: The nature of the sensible I; A challenge; Direct and indirect perception; The nature of sensible things; Chapter 4: The nature of the sensible II; The primary-secondary quality distinction
Relativity of extensionOn abstraction; Assimilating primary and secondary qualities; The 'master argument'; Theories of perception; Chapter 5: The existence and activity of God; A digression; On the doctrine of seeing all things in God; Philonous' proof of God's existence; Chapter 6: The rejection of theistic materialism; Hylas' four accounts of matter; On the limits of thought and meaning; Chapter 7: A world in flux?; Common sense and immaterialism; Sensible things and the pragmatics of language: a short story; The identity objection; The continuity objection; Chapter 8: Mind and morality
Self-knowledgeKnowledge of other minds; Morality: the laws of pain and pleasure; Bibliography; Index
Summary
The Routledge Guidebook to Berkeley's Three Dialogues is an engaging introduction to the last of a trio of works that cemented Berkeley's position as one of the truly great philosophers of the western canon. Berkeley's distinctive idealist philosophy has been a challenge and inspiration for thinkers ever since. Written for readers approaching this seminal work for the first time, this book: provides the philosophical context in which Three Dialogues was written; critically discusses the arguments in each of the Three Dialogues; and examines some of the principal disputes concerning the interpretation of his work. The Routledge Guidebook to Berkeley's Three Dialogues offers a clear and comprehensive guide to this ground-breaking volume and includes further reading sections at the end of each chapter. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this influential work
