19th Century British Philosophy S.
1 total work
The book consists of four lengthy chapters. Chapter one, entitled "Historical Development", traces the development of Idealism from Descartes' "Meditations" to the metaphysics of Hegel. In chapter two English Idealism is contrasted with German: is the universe constituted of sensations, or of thoughts? Chapter three discusses "Idealism and Materialism", attacking in particular the use (or misuse?) of evolutionary biology to support a materialist metaphysic. Chapter four, entitled "Berkeley and His Critics", was actually the first to be written. It provides a defence of Berkeley against the alleged misunderstandings of such critics as Hamilton and Mansel. Berkeley's proof of the non-existence of matter marked, Graham contends, a definite and positive advance in metaphysics, and thus provides a proof, versus positivists and sceptics, that metaphysics is possible.