PHIL1003 Lecture 4: Lecture 4B - Berkeley
Document Summary
Mental representations of the world rather than the world itself. Claim: external world consists not of "material objects" but of minds and ideas. Denial of [materialism] - there exists an "inert, senseless substance, in which extension, figure and motion do actually subsist" (i. e. matter) Why should we think idealism is true (and how exactly is it supposed to work?) If we access ideas directly in perception, and the external world is made (partly) of ideas, then we can access the external world directly in perception. We can forget about our sceptical philosophical worries and live a happy life. Argument for idealism #1: the argument for perception. The only things we perceive are our ideas. Ideas cannot exist unperceived (or outside of a mind), Sensible objects exist unperceived (or outside of a mind). Could reject the claim that we only perceive ideas. But russel"s time lag argument offers support for this premise.
