The new theory of vision and its role in Berkeley’s philosophical system

Abstract

This thesis examines George Berkeley’s New Theory of Vision and considers its role within his overall philosophical system. While the core claims of the New Theory and their relation to the later works has engaged much scholarly attention, we will seek to address persistent exegetical difficulties which mask the complexity of Berkeley’s account of visual spatial perception. While much of our discussion will focus on the relationship between the New Theory and the Principles and Three Dialogues, our analysis will extend to all of the works published between 1709 and 1733; the period commencing with the first publication of the essay on vision and concluding with the publication of Alciphron and the Theory of Vision Vindicated. I will seek to establish that Berkeley never abandons the core claims of his essay on vision and that this work has a central role in enabling him to achieve his larger philosophical ambitions. My overall aim is twofold: to offer a reinterpretation of the New Theory of Vision and to demonstrate that once its central doctrines are correctly understood, this work forms an integral part of Berkeley’s overall philosophical system. One of my central interpretative claims is that Berkeley devotes the New Theory to offering a positive account of spatial perception. I will seek to show that this account of spatial perception offers a significant insight into the role of finite volition in Berkeley’s system and commits him to the constitutive volition thesis. I will seek to establish that his account of spatial perception forms an integral part of his larger metaphysical ambit, and that he seeks to offer a positive account of spatial perception with a view to countermanding the Newtonian account of absolute space. I will also examine the relationship between Divine and finite spirits in Berkeley’s system. I will conclude by suggesting that the account of agent causation which we attribute to Berkeley is one that he would have assented to on theological grounds, as it enables him to establish the providence of an immanent Deity and thereby enshrine the unity of God and Man.