George Berkeley

George Berkeley (March 12, 1685 – January 14, 1753), also known as Bishop Berkeley, was an influential Irish philosopher whose primary philosophical achievement is the advancement of what has come to be called subjective idealism, summed up in his dictum, "Esse est percipi" ("To be is to be perceived"). Basically, the theory is that we can only directly know sensations and ideas of objects, not abstractions such as "matter". He wrote a number of works, the most widely-read of which are his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713) (Philonous, the "lover of the mind", representing Berkeley himself). In 1734 he published The Analyst, a critique of the foundations of science, which was very influential in the subsequent development of mathematics.

The city of Berkeley, California is named after him, but the pronunciation of its name has evolved to suit American English. A residential college in Yale University also bears his name.

More Events from January 14

• January 14 , 1255
  Alexander III, King of Scots, chaired an Assembly at Holyrood at which he settled a dispute between the Sheriff of Perth and the Abbey of Dunfermline.
• January 14 , 1746
  Bonnie Prince Charlies army leaves Glasgow
• January 14, 1775
  John Hely-Hutchinson, Provost of Trinity College, fights a duel with William Doyle over abusive newspaper articles. Doyle is ill and has to lean on a crutch at the duel; on being challenged he had initially complained of sore eyes, and 'objected to stand
• January 14, 1871
  Alexander Sullivan, barrister and last King's Serjeant of Ireland, is born in Dublin
• January 14, 1872
  Greyfriars Bobby died after staying by his master's grave for 14 years.
• January 14, 1930
  Sir Thomas Mackenzie, New Zealand statesman and Prime Minister, died.
• January 14, 1937
  De Valera's new constitution, with its assertions of Ireland as a sovereign 32-county state, and its definition of Catholic morality and "women's place" is approved