First published in 1713, this work was designed as a vivid and persuasive presentation of the remarkable picture
of reality that Berkeley had first presented two years earlier in his Principles of Human Knowledge. His central
claim there, as here, was that physical things consist of nothing but ideas in minds--that the world is not material
but mental. Berkeley uses this thesis as the ground for a new argument for the existence of God, and the dialogue
form enables him to raise and respond to many of the natural objections to his position. The text printed in this
volume is that of the 1734 edition of the Dialogues.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Introductory Material
How to Use this Book
Editor's Introduction
1. Why read the Dialogues?
2. Berkeley's Life
3. Synopsis of the Dialogues
4. Berkeley's Metaphysical System
5. The Main Arguments
6. Berkeley's Philosophical Purposes
7. Berkeley's Intellectual Antecedents
8. Special Topics: Pyrrhonism; Substance; Science
9. The Relation between the Dialogues and the Principles
The Text Printed in this Edition; Bibliography and Further Reading; Analysis of the Dialogues
Part 2: The Text
Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous
Preface
Dialogue I
Dialogue II
Dialogue III
