this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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Asklemmy
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I'll put aside the question of a soul and say, the brain is explicitly something our consciousness makes up (based on data so consistent we justifiably call it "reality").
Materialism is how we see the world. Our consciousness gives a better clue to what the world really is. My consciousness is what it's like to actually be this part of the world.
Are you a metaphysical idealist? That's amazing, I've never actually met one in the wild!
I'm just trying to be careful in my wording and assumptions! I'm not denying "external reality," but I'm definitely questioning materialist metaphysics.
Though maybe that does make me a metaphysical idealist.
I read George Berkeley in college and thought he was completely unique, he straight up denied that there was any such thing as the physical world. Complete opposite of the metaphysical materialist ideas that are predominant today.
How does he explain the consistency of sensory input, which is also confirmed by other minds?
Basically, he considers everyone to be self-aware ideas in the mind of God. The world we perceive is essentially just the contents of God's thoughts.
Okay, yeah that actually sounds reasonable to me. Our thoughts are some aspect of the true nature of reality, so the idea that it's all God's mind is pretty good. What's considered his essential book? Is there a particular book or essay where he elucidates this?
Oh man, it's been a minute since my college philosophy classes! Let me poke around and see if I can find what his major works are again.
Edit: I believe it was in his Principles of Human Knowledge and his Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. Wikipedia also mentions a work called An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, but I don't recall having read anything from that one.
Thanks!