Berkeley and the Argument From Microscopes

Abstract: I n the course of his disc uss ion of the se nsible quality of col or i n the D i a lo gue s Berke le y advance s a n argum e nt that I sha ll refer to as the a rgume nt from microscopes (AF M ). I offe r an a cc ount of the AFM tha t tre ats it a s part of Berkeley’s extended R e d uc ti o of H ylas ’ philos ophical the ory of m e ta- phys ica l re alism . I the n criticize two re prese ntative inte rpre tations of the A F M which fail to appreciate its R e d uc ti o structure and, as a consequence, mistak- enly attribute to Berkeley such problematic claims as that sensible objects are not colored and that the microscopic view of objects reveals the real nature of obje cts . I f I am corre ct, prope rl y c onstrued, Be rke le y’s A F M escapes the se and other objections commonly raised against it. 1 . I n tro d u c tio n I n his Three Dialog ue s Be rkele y adva nces an arg ument as part of his overall strategy of attacking materialism and defending idealism that I shall re fer to as the arg um e nt from m icrosc ope s (A F M ). T wo re ce nt com me ntators have attacke d Berke le y’s A F M as inade quate and as involving a number of mistaken assumptions or, at the very least, as being inconsistent with other central aspects of his philosophy. I n s e ction 2 be low I s ha ll offe r an alte rnative ac count of the A F M according to which Berkeley’s argument survives many of the attacks that hav e be e n adv anc e d ag ainst it. On m y i nte rpre tation, the A F M s hould be seen as part of Berkeley’s extended reductio ad absurdum of H yla s’ phil os ophica l the ory of m e taphy s ica l re alis m. Spe ci ﬁ ca lly, I s ha ll s how how the A F M forms pa rt of H ylas ’ atte m pt to draw a distinction be twe e n real and apparent qualities in order to save his philosophy from the contradictory cons e que nce s of the A FM and othe r argum e nts. 301 BERKELEY AND THE ARG U M ENT FROM MICROSCOPES BY ROBERT W. F A A BORG P a ci ﬁ c P hilos op hica l Qua r te r ly 8 0 ( 1 9 9 9 ) 3 0 1 –3 2 3 0 2 7 9 –0 7 5 0 / 9 9 / 0 4 0 0 –0 0 0 0 © 19 99 U niversity of Southe rn California and Bl ackwe ll Publishe rs L td. Publi she d by Blackw ell Publishe rs, 108 Cowle y Road , Oxford OX 4 1 J F , U K an d 350 M ain Stre e t, M alde n, M A 021 48 , U SA.

Berkeley and the Argument From Microscopes

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