The Established Laws of Science and Technology - Essay Example

How is God important to Berkeley’s philosophy? George Berkeley was an Anglo Irish philosopher who put forward the theory of immaterialism. He was born in 1685 and died in 1753. Unlike many other famous philosophers, he was a strong believer in God and was nicknamed as Bishop Berkeley. He has argued that whatever the things we see in this world are only sensations and ideas of objects rather than abstractions or matter. His famous book An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, published in 1709, discusses the theory of immaterialism or subjective idealism. This paper briefly analyses why he oppose the concept of matter and support the role of God in human life. Berkeley argued that whatever the material bodies at our sight are not material objects but light and colors only. He has pointed out that human senses has limitations in identifying the exact nature of objects because of the inferior powers of our senses. He has questioned the Newtonian concepts like space, time, motion etc. Newton was successful in defining material objects with respect to space, time, motion etc. Newton argued that every object in this universe is made up with a three dimensional space (Length, breadth and thickness).Moreover he has also argued that every object in this universe is either in a state of motion or in a state of rest with respect to another object. Berkeley questioned these Newtonian arguments and pointed out that our senses do not have the ability to recognize the actual shape and size of material objects in this world. Berkeley’s arguments were summarized as a theory called "esse is percipi" which means all the things surrounding us are nothing but our ideas or shadows. These ideas were formed with the help of imperfect sensory inputs. Berkeley believed that human senses are not matured or perfect enough to recognize the actual shape and size of matters in this world. There are many people in this world who believe that some animals have superior sensory abilities. There were many incidents reported in which animals like dogs and cats, make disturbing sounds before natural calamities like earthquake, flood or storm occur. Many people believe that this is because of the superior sensory abilities of these animals in forecasting or predicting disasters well in advance. In other words, animals and human have different sensory abilities. The above example clearly shows that in this universe, different living things have different sensing abilities. Moreover it is quite possible that living things with superior sensing abilities than humans exist in this universe. Berkeley also argued that sensory inputs have no other existence which is different from our perceptions. For example, two blind people who try to recognize the shape of an elephant may perceive the shape of elephant differently if they touch different parts of elephant body. The one who touches the ear of the elephant may perceive the shape of elephant as flat whereas the one who touches the legs of an elephant may perceive the shape of elephant as cylindrical. In other words, we are quite similar to these blind people. Our senses are incapable of assessing the proper shape of an object. It is quite possible that the shape of an object may have other dimensions which we are incapable to perceive using our senses. Berkeley believed only in spirits and ideas. He argued that the mental substance is a combination of mind, spirit and soul. Moreover, ideas rest in this mental substance. He also argued that spirit is the only active being whereas ideas are passive beings. In other words, ideas can be perceived differently by different people whereas spirit cannot be altered. Thus, Berkeley succeeded in classifying human knowledge into two broad categories; knowledge with respect to ideas and knowledge with respect to spirit. Spiritual knowledge cannot be perceived whereas knowledge based on ideas can be perceived by human senses. Thus, Berkeley argued that spiritual knowledge is beyond our control or beyond our grasping abilities. In short, Berkeley succeeded in segregating the entire knowledge in this universe as passive and active. Berkeley was a strong believer in God. He has attached the presence of God in our spiritual knowledge. He has pointed out that the spiritual knowledge is controlled by God whereas the ideas are controlled by human alone. He has pointed out that God is the immediate cause of all our experiences. Without the knowledge of God, nothing is happening in this world. The above argument is similar to the teachings of Holy Bible which says even the number of hair on our head is understandable to God. Berkeley defined God as an eternal or infinite entity. He argued that human abilities or senses are incapable of giving a proper definition to the concept of God. He has pointed out that our ideas and knowledge are built up fully from sensations. It is not necessary that only five senses are there in this universe. Berkeley believed that if a creation of God (Human) has five senses, definitely there should be more senses to the creator (God). Creations can never be superior to the creator. The possibility of extra senses is already discussed by many psychologists and philosophers. Extra sensory perception is a highly debated topic in this world at present because of the abilities of some people in predicting future. For example, Nostradamus, a French apothecary and reputed seer, predicted many major world events hundreds of years before. Extra sensory perception (ESP) is referred as the sixth sense nowadays. In short, the possibility of existence of one or more senses other than the existing five senses cannot be neglected. Berkeley believed that God is an indefinable entity which has super power because of the more senses he has compared to humans. Berkeley pointed out that what we are seeing in front of our eyes cannot be preplanned. Since we have no control over what we are sensing in this world, it is logical to believe that some other entity is controlling such things. In his opinion, God decides what we want to see, hear, taste, smell or touch. Berkeley believed that our “sensory ideas must be caused by some other spirit. When we consider the stunning complexity of our sensory ideas, we must conclude that the spirit in question is wise and benevolent beyond measure, that, in short, he is God” (Downing). Berkeley’s definition of God seems to be logical. It is a fact that even after immense advancements in science and technology, we are still in search of truths behind our birth and death. Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. It is a fact that our body is driven by an invisible and indefinable element which we normally call as soul or spirit. Our body will be destroyed after death; however, the question, what will happen to the soul or spirit after death, is still unanswered by science and technology. Under such circumstances it is logical to accept the arguments of philosophers like Berkeley about the existence of God; the almighty. Science has no clue at all about the origin of this universe. The big bang theory and other theories about the origin of universe did succeed only in complicating the discussion about the origin of universe. Big bang theory did succeed in giving hypothesizes about the origin of universe. This theory argues that the story of universe started from hydrogen clouds, dusts, etc, but it failed to explain from where this hydrogen cloud originated. In short, it is difficult to start from somewhere when we formulate principles about origin of this universe. Once started, we can logically arrange the information in a convincing manner to account for origin of this universe. Under such circumstances, it is logical to accept the arguments of Berkeley like philosophers about the existence and in-definability of God. However, it is a fact that Berkeley’s’ arguments about immaterialism and God are against some of the established or proven principles of our knowledge. For example, it is difficult to digest the arguments with respect to immaterialism. Our intelligence, wisdom and knowledge; all may lose its identity, relevance and existence, once we agree with the arguments of Berkeley. At the same time, the possibility of other intelligence in this universe, apart from that existing in our earth cannot be neglected. It should be remembered that earth is only one among the nine planets of Sun. Moreover, sun is only one star in the Milky Way Galaxy. It is assumed that millions of galaxies are there in this universe. Our knowledge beyond the limits of earth is still negligible. We do not have proper ideas about even the moon which is the satellite of earth. Under such circumstances, it is quite possible that life forms or intelligence in other forms may exist in other parts of the universe. It is also possible that these intelligences may superior to human intelligence. To conclude, Berkeley’s arguments about immateriality and existence of God are derived from the assumption that our sensory knowledge is passive and only the spiritual knowledge is active. Spiritual knowledge is controlled by God. Our sensory knowledge is passive and it is the contributions of senses. What we sense is only colours and lights according to Berkeley. Berkeley’s arguments were against the established laws of science and technology; however, it is difficult to neglect his arguments until we are able to unveil the mysteries surrounding life and death. Works Cited 1. Downing, Lisa. “George Berkeley”. 2011. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Web. 10 March 2011. Read More