Berkeley's Half‐Way House

Abstract

AbstractGeorge Berkeley's New Theory of Vision is frequently read as a simple precursor or “half‐way house” to his later metaphysics. As a result, some allege the value of the New Theory has been overlooked as critics judge it by its association with immaterialism. In this piece I examine the ongoing debate over the nature of the connection between Berkeley's early work on perception and his later immaterialist tracts. I identify four principal positions on the nature of the connection that have been advanced in the scholarly literature, critically engage the evidence for and against them, and finally weigh in by arguing that an excellent case can be made for thinking that the New Theory is a half‐way house to immaterialism after all.