The Notions of George Berkeley: Self, Substance, Unity and Power

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George Berkeleys doctrine of notions is often disparaged or dismissed. In a systematic interpretation and positive reconstruction of the doctrine, James Hill presents Berkeleys understanding of the inner sphere and self-awareness, and reassesses the widely held view of Berkeley as an empiricist. Examining the development of Berkeleys philosophy from the early notebooks to the late Siris, Hill sets out how knowledge by notion involves a radical rejection of the perceptual model of self-cognition and of the attempt to frame our knowledge of the inner by analogy with the outer. He points to Berkeleys divergence from the assumption among rationalists and empiricists that we know our selves and our mental acts by idea, or by an immediate presentation before the mind. Weaving together Berkeleys conception of the intellect, conceptual thought, mathematics, ethics and theology in the light of the doctrine of notions, Hill invites us to treat Berkeleys philosophy of mind as distinct from the empiricist tradition. This cutting edge reflection on the doctrine of notions is essential reading for students and scholars specialising in Berkeley as well as early modern accounts of the self, perception and God.

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The Notions of George Berkeley is a major event in Berkeley studies. For no commentator before Hill has gotten as close to Berkeley on this crucial subject, or shown how encompassing it is in Berkeleys philosophy. * David Berman, Emeritus Fellow and Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland *
A textually moored, historically contextualized and philosophically sophisticated reconstruction of Berkeley's puzzling doctrine of notions, our knowledge of ourselves, our acts, relations, number, virtue and God. Hill persuasively explains why Berkeley is part-empiricist and part-rationalist, and why his positive ontological views, not only his well-known immaterialism, deserve a closer look. * Samuel C. Rickless, Professor of Philosophy, University of California San Diego, USA *

Author Bio

James Hill is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Charles University, Prague.