Immaterialism

Immaterialism is the theory propounded by Bishop Berkeley in the 18th century which holds that there are no material objects, only minds and ideas in those minds. Berkeley summarized his theory with the motto "esse est percipi" ("To be is to be perceived"), but went on to elaborate it with God as the source of consensus reality and other particulars.

Today this theory is considered the first formulation of subjective idealism, a branch of idealism and a form of phenomenalism. Since it is not falsifiable, it is a theory not of science but of metaphysics. However, it should also be noted that the idea that objects exist independently of mind is not testable or provable by the scientific method.

Earlier ideas about the immaterial and the incorporeal go back to Plato, Augustine, Plotinus, and many other ancient and medieval philosophers. Plato and Socrates made many references to eternal forms that are immaterial or incorporeal. A classic philosophical problem is wether or not there is a First Cause or Prime Mover prior to the material universe. Aristotle's notion of a formal cause is also partially related to Plato's idea of eternal Forms. Plato's theory of the line also mentions the intelligible method and the dialectical method that leads one to The Good, or to what truly exists eternally, without change.

Bishop Berkeley's assesment of immaterialism was also criticized by Samuel Johnson, as recorded Boswell. Responding to the theory, Dr. Johnson exclaimed "I refute it thus!" while kicking his shoe into a rock until his foot bled. This episode is cited by Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce's "Ulysses," chapter three. Reflecting on the "ineluctable modality of the visible," Dedalus conjures the image of Johnson's refutation, before engaging in his own refutation - closing his eyes and feeling the rocks under his feet while walking along the beach.

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