Philonous Response To Hylas

On page 79 in George Berkeley’s Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Hylas, which is Greek for matter, objects that ‘two different perceivers never perceive the same thing’ (Adams, 79) follows from immaterialism. In Part A of this paper, I will clearly explain Hylas’s objection and Philonous’s (Philonous represents Berkeley’s position) response to this objection. In doing so, I will show how Philonous’s response to Hylas is more than adequate. In Part B of this paper, I will critically analyze what Berkeley (Philonous) is saying. In doing so, I will raise an objection one could put forth to the response that Berkeley (Philonous) gives to the original objection raised by Hylas, and then offer a possible reply that Berkeley (Philonous) …show more content…
How can my ideas/sensory impressions ever be incorrect? This objection is raised by Hylas, when he states “according to [Philonous], men judge the reality of things by their senses, how can a man be mistaken in thinking the moon a plain lucid surface, about a foot in diameter; or a square tower, seen at a distance, round; or an oar, with one end in the water, crooked (Dialogues, 71). In this passage, Hylas is inquiring as to how, given that objects are nothing more than a collection of ideas/sensory impressions put together by our minds, our ideas/sensory impressions can …show more content…
This is supported by Berkeley, as evident when Philonous states, “He is not mistaken with regard to the idea he actually perceives; but in the inference he makes from his present perception” (Dialogues, 71). This passage shows that when one perceives something incorrectly, it is not the perception that is incorrect, it is the inference the individual draws from this perception. Furthermore, Berkeley goes on to correctly describe what is going on in the scenario Hylas bring up in which an oar, with one end in the water, appears to be crooked. Philonous explains: “Thus in the case of the oar, what he immediately perceives by sight is certainly crooked; and so far he is in the right. But if he thence conclude, that upon taking the oar out of the water he shall perceive the same crookedness; or that it would affect his touch, as crooked things are won’t to do: in that he is mistaken (Dialogues, 71). Again, in this passage, Philonous shows, with an example that serves as a direct refutation to Hylas’s objection, that it is the inference the perceiver draws from the perception that is incorrect, not the perception

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