The Philosopher Who Said Reality Isn’t Real

George Berkeley is the philosopher who believed reality isn't real, and he is one of those philosophers who sounds completely insane until you actually understand what he is saying. He is not simply saying “the world does not exist” or that everything is made up inside one person’s imagination. His claim is much stranger: there is no mind-independent material world. What we call rocks, trees, tables and buildings are collections of ideas perceived by minds. In this video, I go through Berkeley’s life, his failed plan to build a college in Bermuda, his time in America, and then the actual philosophy behind his idealism. I look at John Locke's primary/secondary quality distinction and Berkeley's objection to it, Berkeley’s Master Argument, the deeper problem of comparing ideas with matter, and the point where Berkeley brings in God to save the system. I also give my own view on idealism, which is not exactly Berkeley’s, but which I think makes his ideas far more defensible than people usually assume. So was Berkeley a genius, a madman, or just a bishop who took perception way too seriously? Probably all three. Video Timestamps: Introduction - 0:00 My Pledge to the Viewer - 1:35 A Historical Account of the Life of George Berkeley - 2:34 George Berkeley's Philosophy - 9:15 Conclusion - 26:47 #GeorgeBerkeley #idealism #philosophy