Berkeley's Argument for God

"Sensible things cannot exist otherwise than in a mind or spirit." (P 169b)
Not all sensible things depend on me.
Therefore, some sensible things exist but not in my mind.
Therefore, there is some other mind (in which these sensible things exist).
The sensible world exists.
The sensible world does not exist (completely) in my mind.
Therefore, there is a mind, other than mine, an "infinite," "omnipresent" mind (or spirit), in which the sensible world exists. (P 169b)
And this we call "God."


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Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 27 February 2003