George Berkeley: Religion and Science in the Age of Enlightenment

Zusatztext

<P>George Berkeley was considered "the most engaging and useful man in Ireland in the eighteenth century". This hyperbolic statement refers both to Berkeleys life and thought; in fact, he always considered himself a pioneer called to think and do new things. He was an empiricist well versed in the sciences, an amateur of the mechanical arts, as well as a metaphysician; he was the author of many completely different discoveries, as well as a very active Christian, a zealous bishop and the apostle of the Bermuda project. The essays collected in this volume, written by some leading scholars, aim to reconstruct the<EM>complexity</EM>of Berkeleys figure, without selecting "major" works, nor searching for "coherence" at any cost. They will focus on different aspects of Berkeleys thought, showing their intersections; they will explore the important contributions he gave to various scientific disciplines, as well as to the eighteenth-century philosophical and theological debate. They will highlight the wide influence that his presently most neglected or puzzling books had at the time; they will refuse any anachronistical trial of Berkeleys thought, judged from a contemporary point of view.</P>

Autorenportrait

<p>Silvia Parigi, Ph. D. in Philosophy and History of Science, is Professor in charge of History of Science at the University of Cassino. She is the author of <i>Il Mondo visibile. George Berkeley e la "perspectiva" </i>(1995), editor/translator of a wide Italian collection of Berkeley¿s works, (1996) and co-editor of <i>Studi sull¿entusiasmo </i>(2001). Her articles include studies on the history of theories of vision and perception from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, Giacomo Leopardi¿s epistemology, ancient and modern views on <i>oculus fascinans</i>. Currently working on the modern history of the concepts of spirit and effluvium, she is also in the editorial board of <i>Berkeley Studies</i>. </p>

Weitere Details