Principios del conocimiento humano

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Principles of Human Knowledge, commonly referred to as "Treatise," is a 1710 work by Irish Empiricist philosopher George Berkeley. This text primarily aims to challenge the views of his contemporary John Locke regarding human perception. Both philosophers agreed on the existence of an external world that influences the ideas within our minds; however, Berkeley argued that this world is composed solely of ideas. He posited that "Ideas can only resemble Ideas," suggesting that our mental ideas only mirror other ideas, not physical objects. Consequently, Berkeley concluded that the external world lacks physical form and is instead made up of ideas, which are given structure and consistency by a divine force, which he identified as God. Although his views have been largely refuted by later philosophers, they are often seen as a rationalization influenced by his deep religious beliefs, as he later became Bishop of Cloyne. Berkeley's perspective served as an alternative to the Lockean Empiricism of his time, which he believed led to skepticism. Despite the controversy surrounding his conclusions, Berkeley remains a respected and engaging thinker, with ongoing debate about whether he genuinely believed in the notion that the world is composed of ideas.