EERKELEY, GEORGE, bishop of Cleric., and a distinguished philosopher, was the eldest son of William B., a cadet of the family of the earl of Berkeley. He was born on the 12th of Mar., 1684, at Kilcriu, near Thomastown, co. of Kilkenny, Ire land. As a boy, be studied at the school of Kilcrin, at which Swift also received his early education; and in his fifteenth year he followed his great countryman to Trinity college, Dublin. where, in 17:17, lie obtained a fellowShip. At Trinity, he enjoyed the society of Swift, who patronized him, as he did almost everybody, and who subsequently had a great deal to do in shaping his fortunes.
B.'s career as an author began in 1707 (the year in which he obtained his fellowship) by the publication of a work written three years before, at the age of 20, entitled Arith metica absgue Algebra ant Euclide Demonstrate. This was followed, in 1709, by the cele brated essay, Tozrards a 21'cm:theory of in which lie demonstrated the dependence of the perceptions of distance, magnitude, and situation on the sense of touch. This essay led to considerable controversy at the time, though its conclusions may now be considered as not admitting of doubt. In 1733. B. produced a pamphlet in vindication of The Theory of Vision or Visual Language, showing the Universal Presence and Providence of the Deity Vindicated and &Alined. By this time he had propounded his system of absolute idealism. His Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge appeared so early as 1710. Its object was to undermine the materialism of the age, by denying. on received principles of philosophy, the reality of an external, world. ft. there is no external world, he argued, the phenomena of Sense can be explained only by supposing a deity continually necessitating perception. B. has since been laughed at by riany who could not see how the premises laid in the philosophy of the day led to his system; by many he will always be laughed at as an idle dreamer; but, in point of fact, his system is a monument at once of marvelous subtlety of mind and of the most pious devotion of the intellectual powers to the cause of religion. The object was, as the full title of the book itself sets forth, to inquire into and remove the causes of scepticism, atheism, and irreligion. It is only an illustration of the truth of the old saying, that extremes meet, if, in following out this pious purpose, be prepared the way for a subtler form of scepticism (In.Hume's philosophy) than the world had previously known. Tho reader will find valuable assistance to the apprehension of B.'s system in sir William Hamilton's and in his dissertations and notes to Reid's Philosophy of the Human. Mind. It must suffice to mention here that B. was the first philosopher who pro
posed a scheme of absolute idealism.
In 1713, B. went to reside iu London, where, in thy same year, he published a defense of his ideal system, Three Dialogues between Ilylas and Philonous_ Shortly after this he was appointed chaplain and secretary of legation under lord Peterborough, whom h© accompanied to Italy. In 1721, he returned to London; and in 1724, he became dean of Derry, with as income of £1100, and resigned his fellowship.
B. was not a man to settle in the enjoyment of leisure and opulence. The dean of Derry set to devising schemes of usefulness, fixing at last on one by which his deanery and income were to be exchanged for exile and 1:,100 a year. This wits the Bermudas college scheme for training pastors for the colonies, and missionaries to the American Indians. Swift, failing to induce him to give the project up, made influence with ministers to sup port it, which they promised to do. Full of hope, B. prepared for his exile; he married in Aug., 1728, Anna Elvert, daughter of right hon. John Forster, speaker of the Irish house of commons, and soon after sailed for Rhode Island. The support promised by government was never given to hint, and, after six years, be returned to England heart broken with failure, and harassed by creditors. He had barely returned, however, when (1734) he received the .bishop•ic of Cloyne, as a mark of favor from the queen. He was now once more in the enjoyment of leisure for literature. Soon appeared the Minute Philosopher, followed by various letters and pamphlets on the state of the country, and, in 1749, by A Word to the Wise. In 1744, he gave the world his notions of the virtues of tar-water in a book entitled Sins. Tar-water appears to have been in his thoughts as in his system—which must have been saturated with it—from this time till his death. His last wto k was Farther Thoughts on Mr-wate•, published in 1752. The fact is, he was hypochondriacal for many years before his death He died, 14th Jan., 1753, at Oxford. whither he had gone to live with his son, who was studying at Christ church. A genial companion, an affectionate and steady friend, he was loved by all of his contemporaries who enjoyed his society; a graceful writer, a subtle' philosopher, and an active church man, his whole life was devoted to usefulness, and ennobled by the purity of his aspira tions. The best edition of his works is that of prof. Fraser, LL.D., 1871.