The Works of George Berkeley (Volume 1); Including His Letters to Thomas Priordean Gervais, Mr. Pope, &C. &C. to Which Is Prefixed an Account of His L (Paperback)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1843. Excerpt: ... jects are without the mind, from their appearance or manner wherein they are perceived. llyl. I acknowledge it . But doth not my sense deceive me in those cases? Phil. By no means. The idea or thing which you immediately perceive, neither sense nor reason inform you that it actually exists without the mind. By sense you only know that you are affected with such certain sensations of light and colours, &c. And these you will not say are without the mind. /lyl. True: but beside all that, do you not think the sight suggests something of outness or distance ? PhiL Upon approaching a distant object, do the visible size and figure change perpetually, or do they appear the same at all distances ? HyL They are in a continual change. Phil. Sight therefore doth not suggest or any way inform you, that the visible object you immediately perceive, exists at a distance, * or will be perceived when you advance further onward, there being a continued series of visible objects succeeding each / other, during the whole time of your approach. HyL It doth not; but still I know, upon seeing an object, what object I shall perceive after having passed over a certain distance: no matter whether it be exactly the same or no: there is still something of distance suggested in the case. PhiL Good Hylas, do but reflect a little on the point, and then tell me whether there be any more in it than this. From the *" ideas you actually perceive by sight, you have by experience learned to collect what other ideas you will (according to the standing order of nature) be affected with, after such a certain succession of time and motion. HyL Upon the whole, I take it to be nothing else. PhiL Now is it not plain, that if we suppose a man born blind was on a sudden made to see, he could at first have no experience of what...