Borges Use of Berkeleys Idealism Essays -- Essays Papers

Borges Use of Berkeleys noble-mindedness Jorge Luis Borges drew upon a number of philosophical and intellectual models in his writing, virtuoso of which is George Berkeleys subjective mentationlism. In Tln, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Borges paints a picture of a perfect reality governed by Berkeleys idea that offspring merely equals in perception, and in The Circular Ruins, he presents a man who creates a boy who cannot exist independent of his perception. However, by employing Berkeleys logic in these stories, Borges is in fact denying Berkeleys ultimate purpose the justification of the public of God. In almost all of his work, Berkeleys fundamental goal is to logically disprove any thinking that presumes the non-existence of God (Muehlmann 231). In a nutshell, Berkeley argues that matter does not exist outside of human perception. In his Three Dialogues amid Hylas and Philonous, he asserts the following If it be allowed that no idea nor anything like an idea can exist in an unper ceiving substance, then surely it follows, that no figure or mode of extension which we can either discriminate or imagine, or have any idea of, an be really inherent in matter. (Three Dialogues 139) According to Berkeley, only qualities of matter exist, and only in the perceiving mind. For instance, nurture as an object does not exist, but the sensation it produces in the mind does because the mind can perceive it. Outside of the perception of heat, fire does not exist because the mind is not present to acknowledge it (123-128). Berkeley expands this rationale further to justify the existence of God, arguing that for ideas to be perceivable, they must be perceived. Thus, anything that cannot be perceived by the mind can only exist in the mind of Go... ...rcular Ruins, or a culmination of several variant forces, as in Tln, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (59). Subjective idealism is enough to formulate the nature of human perception, but is hopelessly theocentric concerning Berkeleys ult imate purpose. Borges exploits this weakness, and later uses Berkeleys crowning philosophical achievement to defend agnosticism and strengthen the uncertainty surrounding God. Works CitedBerkeley, George. Principles of Human Knowledge. London Penguin, 1988.Three Dialogues amid Hylas and Philonous. London Penguin, 1988.Borges, Jorge Luis. Ficciones. Trans. Emec Editores. New York Grove Press, 1962.Dunham, Lowell and Ivar Ivask. The Cardinal Points of Boges. Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.Muehlmann, Robert G. Berkeleys Metaphysics. University Park The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.