Berkeley – esse est percipii

Irish philosopher George Berkeley believed that Locke’s Essay did not carry the principles of empiricism far enough. Philosophers like Descartes and Locke tried to forestall problems of perceptual illusion by distinguishing between material objects and the ideas by means of which we perceive them. (perceiver—–ideas—–material objects) But the representationalist approach can provide no reliable account of the connection between ideas and the objects they are supposed to represent. The results of … Read more

Hegel – Phenomenology and spirit

The Phenomenology of Spirit published in 1807, is based on a precious philosophical intuition: consciousness is not an completed institution, it is constructed, transformed to become other than itself. From this intuition, Hegel traces the epic adventure of the consciousness through its various stages, the evolution of consciousness, from sensitive consciousness to the absolute spirit. The Phenomenology of Spirit … Read more