Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

209250

Berkeley's metaphysical instrumentalism

Marc A. Hight

pp. 15-29

Abstract

Berkeley is widely held to be a scientific instrumentalist, but the scope of his ­instrumentalism has been repeatedly brought into question. Some have asserted that Berkeley capitulated wholesale to a form of external realism at the end of his life, others have supposed principled reasons for thinking that Berkeley is an instrumen­talist about some things and not about others. Lisa Downing, for instance, has argued that Berkeley is an instrumentalist about forces but not about corpuscles, and Douglas Jesseph contends that Berkeley rejects mathematical instrumentalism despite being a stronger instrumentalist in the sciences.

Publication details

Published in:

Parigi Silvia (2011) George Berkeley: religion and science in the age of enlightenment. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 15-29

DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9243-4_2

Full citation:

Hight Marc A. (2011) „Berkeley's metaphysical instrumentalism“, In: S. Parigi (ed.), George Berkeley, Dordrecht, Springer, 15–29.