Berkeley

Is there any significant difference between having our experiences caused by God, evil demon or a machine, given that each of these cause our experience to be the way that is? I’m stuck on this question…it’s an essay question for my class and I feel a bit guilty posting it but I need to generate some ideas…Thank you

I’m not trying to be smart with you, but philosophy is just thinking about something. There are no real right answers only good arguments for a particular view. In the case of your question there is no correct answer to what you’ve been asked, only different approaches to take in the argument.

Ask yourself how is God different to an evil demon, or a machine?

Then why would an experience be different, if it were caused by God, an evil demon or a machine?

Review some of the books you’ve been told to read, as I always found this the best way to stimulate my own ideas.

The reason why most people fail philosophy is not because they don’t hand up a good essay, it’s because they don’t think about what they’re told to think about. Philosophy can be a very easy class, as long as you remember to make a little time to think about what you’ve been talking about in class.

Yes.
The significant difference between God, a machine, or an evil demon creating your experience is the “truth” of the experience. If a machine is creating your reality, then there must be “another” reality to which belongs the machine. Therefore, the reality that you are experiencing is not the genuine, or “real” reality, i.e The Matrix, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave etc. The same applies for the evil demon. If an evil demon is tricking you into believing that what you are experiencing is the “real” reality, you would still not be experiencing “true” reality, because it exists outside of the demon’s illusory one.

Of course, that is supposing that there is an ultimate “true” reality. :wink:

Am I missing something? What does this have to do with Berkeley?

Did he xome up with the machine scenario? :confused:

Hi,

have a look at the Evil Demon Hypothesis essay which can be found here: ilovephilosophy.com/articles … s.php?no=7

Philosophy at school is sometimes a different process to philosophy as a hobby or passion. I know from experience that getting an essay done for class was not always a ‘learning curve’. I had a set structure, a set amount of arguments i had to include making sure it was seen from all sides. In my opinion, sitting at home and really thinking about the issues and reading up on them is more valuable than just producing an end result in form of an essay. This is an even bigger issue in terms of what is the purpose of education etc. but that’s another discussion.

To finish your essay you need to read up on the issues that the question raises, ask your teacher for information or where to get it. To really learn you should get the information, process it, critique it and discuss it with people (maybe even here!).

good luck with it

  • ben

Thank you all to responding…I’ve been generating some ideas myself and I think that there is significant difference because the origin of our experiences is different in all three cases…also it is different because all three of the authors might have different reasons as to why they are making us expereince…I’m sure I’ll come up with some more arguements…Again, thanx for replying…I knew I could count on this lil’ community to help out with their insights.

(I’m a little rusty, so don’t freak out if I got a bit of this wrong)
In “Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous”
Bishop Berkeley explored the notion that even if there are immutable laws of physics, a physical world, etc, that that does not preclude objects from only existing because of the actions of God. Thus matter does not exist, but is within the mind or thought of God.

So just because we have a physical world does not mean that it exists as matter.

This is similar, I believe, to Occasionalism. The notion that when an arrow is shot from a bow, that God is moving the arrow from point A to point B.
I think I will reread him tonight.