George Berkeley

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/george-berkeley

1. When was George Berkeley born?
2. When did George Berkeley die?
3. Where was George Berkeley born?
4. What did George Berkeley think about chairs and tables when no one looks at them?
5. Why did Berkeley say "to be is to be perceived"?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was George Berkeley born?March 12, 1685
2. When did George Berkeley die?January 14, 1753 (age 67)
3. Where was George Berkeley born?County Kilkenny, Ireland
4. What did George Berkeley think about chairs and tables when no one looks at them?He believed they exist only when someone looks at them, because objects are just ideas in a mind.
5. Why did Berkeley say "to be is to be perceived"?He argued that objects exist only when they are seen, since matter alone can’t be known without perception.

Immaterialism: The philosophical doctrine that denies the existence of material substance, asserting that reality is fundamentally mental or spiritual, dependent on perception.
Empiricism: A philosophical tradition emphasizing that knowledge is primarily derived from sensory experience and observation.
Esse est percipi: Latin for 'to be is to be perceived,' the central tenet of Berkeley's immaterialism, meaning existence is dependent on being perceived.