Berkeley's theory of radical dependence / by Gavan Jennings.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jennings, Gavan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (148 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, England : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.

Summary:

This work traces the theory of Radical Dependence through its various forms in Berkeley's philosophical works. It shows that a desire to establish a theory of Radical Dependence underlies all of these works and that this theory unifies Berkeley's various phases of philosophical development.The work begins by establishing the meaning of "Radical Dependence" and examining the influence of Greek, Early Christian and Mediaeval philosophers and theologians on the development of the concept. Subsequently, the deism of the seventeenth-century philosophers is examined; the influence of science and rationalism on the development of deism is traced, with particular attention being given to Berkeley's personal milieu.With a view to showing that Berkeley wishes to re-establish the waning Christian cosmology, his philosophical works are examined in chronological order, particular attention being paid to his final work Siris. It is shown that, although Berkeley moves from a philosophy based on the immaterialist hypothesis in his early works, to one based on the doctrine of participation in his last work, each phase is a variation of the doctrine of Radical Dependence.In the final chapter some of the shortcomings of Berkeley's various philosophical systems are discussed and alternatives are examined. The direction of his thought is found to be guided more by piety than by common-sense and reason: he suffers from a pious pragmatism which leads him to hold doctrines as true on the grounds that they corroborate Christian doctrines. His firm belief in the providence of God leads him to affirm an almost pantheistic worldview which he never fully manages to reconcile with traditional Christian theology, and the doctrine of creation ex nihilo in particular.

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Age of Reason: an Age of Transition

Berkeleian Scholarship

Chapter One

Platonic and Aristotelian Cosmology

Neoplatonic and Plotinian Cosmology

The Cosmology of Avicenna and Averroes

Christian Cosmology

Christian Neoplatonism

Chapter Two

Berkeley's Historical Milieu

The New Science

The cosmos

Newtonian physics

The New Philosophy

Cartesian mechanism

Atheism's Debt to Deism

Berkeley's Attitude towards Deism

Chapter Three

The Philosophical Commentaries

An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision

A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous

De Motu

Alciphron

The Theory of Vision Vindicated

Chapter Four

The Chain of Being

Unity and existence

Person in Siris

Evaluation

Man in communion with God

Chapter Five

Synopsis and Evaluation

An Alternative Theory of Dependence

Conclusion

Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed February 15, 2018).

ISBN:

1-5275-0688-6

OCLC:

1020286323