A review by david_rhee
Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous: in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists by George Berkeley, Philip Bates

3.0

George Berkeley presented in the essay, Principles of Human Knowledge, a natural philosophy so outlandish that he thought it proper to more clearly formulate it in dialogue form. The participants are Hylas, or "matter," and Philonous, or "lover of mind." Hylas, as his name suggests, attempts to maintain the seemingly reasonable stance that the external object or matter exists and exerts its effect upon the minds of those who perceive. Philonous argues that any perceived thing, what he terms ideas, always begins with a mind. A certain hierarchy of phenomenal authorship is at the core of Philonous' or Berkeley's unique arrangement of the world. He cannot accept that an inert unthinking substance can spark a mind into generating ideas. What Philonous takes advantage of is a gap in phenomenal perception which Hylas is unable to fill...that no one can immediately access the thing in itself, a problem which Immanuel Kant would face later. Hylas is adamant about filling this gap with a belief in matter which he cannot justify after many failed attempts. Philonous' answer is an analogy. The reality of perceived objects is based upon the action of a mind. The reality of the world of phenomena is dependent upon the will of a supreme Mind (guess who?). To be fair, Philonous has to make his share of baseless assumptions to support his claims. For example, he states this supreme Mind who is the author of what we perceive is ultimately good. The same system, however, may be maintained by the mind of a Cartesian "evil genius" or of an unfeeling essence with no moral or ethical interest. The chain of reasoning is far, far from solid, but the Three Dialogues provide an interesting take on one of the most peculiar philosophies of its time, or even of all time.