A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

Berkeley (sometimes pronounced “BARK-lee”) was one of the major intellectual figures of 18th-century Britain, whose work addressed such varied fields as religion, philosophy, science, medicine, and economics. He was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1685 to a family of English origin. While attending Trinity College in Dublin, he fell under the influence of the empiricist school of philosophy, as represented by John Locke. By graduation, he had developed a distinctive philosophical perspective, the major tenet of which was that existence consists of perceiving and being perceived.

Berkeley was ordained a priest of the Anglican Church in 1710, the same year that he wrote the Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Scholars in Britain and Europe received the work with great interest, and it provoked serious philosophical debates. Berkeley’s next work was Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, which provided further defense of his theories. Berkeley, who was also the Bishop of Cloyne, served as a fellow of Trinity College for 17 years, lecturing in divinity, Greek, and Hebrew.

As his fame grew, Berkeley’s horizons widened: He mixed with London’s intellectual and political society and traveled extensively in Italy. Convinced that America rather than Europe held the key to the future (an