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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 11 page paper relates the elementse of George Berkeley’s doctrine of notions. This paper outlines the fact that Berkeley's doctrine of notions is based on his own views of meaning and the way in which perception influences meaning. For Berkeley, notions then, are essentially ideas of the imagination that are representative of abstractions, and Berkeley attempts to define the connection between elements of the mind and the abstractions that have determined a conceptual view of God and self. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
11 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MH11_MHberk22.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
representative of abstractions, and Berkeley attempts to define the connection between elements of the mind and the abstractions that have determined a conceptual view of God and self. In
order to understand Berkeleys doctrine of notions, then, it is beneficial first to understand how he views ideas, or notions of the imagination, and their implications for human knowledge.
Perceptions and Notions of the Mind Berkeley recognized that everything concrete in the world is only so because man perceives it. At the same time, most philosophers do
not argue that there is a distinct difference between the immediate characteristics of an object and the ideas or notions that create the object. Berkeley, though, argues that notions
of the imagination can sometimes be created out of abstractions of the senses, and that this lends itself to a different characterization of an object relative to this kind of
notion. If the apple is first initially perceived by an individual, and very basic perceptions are formed, the person stores this information for use the next time they approach
an apple. At the same time, the individual can then take the information recognized about the apple and make personal inferences about it. The apple is small, ripe
or not ripe, has a worm in it, these are all abstractions on the concept of the apple in the first place. These notions could not be made without
the immediate determination of the existence of the apple, through sense perception. Berkeley suggests that because of this abstraction, the individual qualities of the apple can exist outside of
the mind, but that they cannot exist outside of perception. It is not the mind itself that creates the determining characteristics of an object, but the process of perception
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