Is Philonous a Sceptic?
A skeptic, Philonous and Hylas agree, is “one who denies the reality of sensible things, or professes of the greatest ignorance of them” (sensible things being, of course, things that are perceived by the senses). With this established, Philonous is ready to begin.
What is the definition of sensible things accepted by both Hylas and Philonous?
Explain how Philonous and Hylas agree to define truth, and why this definition is important to the arguments that Philonous (Berkeley) gives in his Dialogues. Berkeley: sensible objects are immediately perceivable and by that they are sensible qualities.
Who says to exist is one thing and to be perceived is another?
Hyl
What does Hylas mean by substratum?
After all, anything sensible is immediately perceived; anything immediately perceived is an idea; and ideas only exist in minds. But, stubborn man that he is, Hylas still wants to find some meaning for the term “matter,” and so he suggests that it must be the “substratum” which supports all those qualities we observe.
What is Hylas initial opinion about the existence of external objects?
Hylas is now finally reduced to skepticism. He admits that no sensible things exist outside of the mind, and concludes from there that no sensible things have any real existence.
What’s the relevance of the distinction between mediate perception and immediate perception?
It is something that the human mind creates itself, and takes it for being immediately given or suggested by experience. The immediate things are not done by the human mind, but the mediated things are done by the human mind. They are what the human mind adds on to what is immediately perceived by the senses.
What is the difference between mediate and immediate?
Mediate and immediate experiences: Mediate experience provides information about something other than the elements of that experience; immediate experience is unbiased by interpretation.
What is immediate perception?
“immediate” perception. = perception which is not mediate; direct perception. Berkeley points out that we do not immediately perceive the causes of sounds, colors, etc. For example (not Berkeley’s example), I do not immediately hear the truck coming down the street.
How would you compare the characteristics of mediate and immediate inference?
An immediate inference occurs in an argument consisting of two propositions: one premise and a conclusion. The immediate inference involves two and only two terms: men and mortal; whereas mediated inferences (syllogisms) have three and only three terms.