Exam 7: Is There a Spiritual Reality Exploring the Philosophy of Religion

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George Berkeley did not believe in the existence of matter because he argued that our perception of the world is entirely dependent on our senses. He believed that everything we experience is a product of our perception, and therefore, the existence of matter outside of our perception is uncertain. Instead, he proposed the idea of "immaterialism," also known as "idealism," which suggests that only minds and their ideas exist. In other words, Berkeley believed that the only things that truly exist are the ideas and perceptions in our minds, and that there is no material substance underlying these perceptions. This concept is often summarized by his famous phrase "to be is to be perceived," meaning that for something to exist, it must be perceived by a mind. Therefore, Berkeley rejected the notion of material substance and instead proposed that only mental perceptions and ideas exist.