# Bishop Berkeley — The Problems of Philosophy character guide

> Bishop Berkeley in The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Berkeley

**First appearance:** 0005-iv-idealism

## Snapshot

The idealist bishop who argued that to be is to be perceived—and whose argument Russell traces to a single fatal equivocation.

## Who they are

Berkeley holds that colours, sounds, and shapes cannot exist apart from a mind, since what we apprehend is always an 'idea.' Russell grants the force of the position and then locates its flaw: Berkeley confuses the act of apprehension, which is mental, with the object apprehended, which need not be. The distinction matters enormously, because on it rests the mind's whole power to be acquainted with something other than itself. Berkeley is the book's most instructive wrong turn—wrong in a way that sharpens what knowledge actually is.

## Relationships

### [Bismarck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/bismarck)

_social_

Bishop Berkeley and Bismarck are historical figures whose interactions are likely philosophical or political discussions in the text.

### [Leibniz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/leibniz)

_professional_

Bishop Berkeley and Leibniz are philosophers engaged in contrasting metaphysical debates.

### [Hylas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/hylas)

_psychological_

Berkeley uses Hylas as a philosophical foil in dialogues, representing a materialist viewpoint to be refuted.

### [Hume](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/hume)

_professional_

Berkeley and Hume are philosophers with overlapping empiricist ideas, though Hume extends Berkeley's arguments in new directions.

### [Descartes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/descartes)

_professional_

Berkeley critiques Descartes' dualism and materialism from an idealist perspective.

### [Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/plato)

_professional_

Berkeley and Plato are linked by their shared idealist philosophies, though with significant differences.

### [Bismarck](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/characters/bismarck)

_social_

Bishop Berkeley and Bismarck are historical figures whose interactions are likely philosophical or political discussions in the text.

## In the story

### [The Problems of Philosophy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/the-problems-of-philosophy)

His idealist philosophy, denying the existence of matter independent of perception, is critically examined.

### [Appearance and Reality](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/i-appearance-and-reality)

Berkeley is introduced as the philosopher who first prominently argued that the immediate objects of the senses do not exist independently of minds, denying matter in favor of a world of minds and ideas.

### [III: The Nature of Matter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/iii-the-nature-of-matter)

Mentioned as contending that matter is ideas in the minds of perceivers.

### [Idealism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/iv-idealism)

Berkeley's idealism is the primary subject of the chapter; Russell analyzes his argument that to be is to be perceived and critiques the confusion between act and object.

### [VII: On Our Knowledge of General Principles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/vii-on-our-knowledge-of-general-principles)

Mentioned as a British empiricist philosopher, part of the tradition represented by Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.

### [IX: The World of Universals](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/ix-the-world-of-universals)

Berkeley's rejection of abstract ideas and his idealism are criticized; Russell argues that Berkeley and Hume failed to recognize relations as universals.

### [Bibliographical Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_problems_of_philosophy_se/chapters/bibliographical-note)

Recommended work: Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous.

## Links

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