"We stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley's ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, "I refute it thus!""
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Academics from IrelandAnglicans from the United KingdomPhilosophers from IrelandAnglican bishopsAnglican saints
Original Language: English
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Sources
James Boswell, anecdote of an event of 6 August 1763, in The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol. I
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Berkeley
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George Berkeley
George Berkeley (12 March 1685 – 14 January 1753), also known as Bishop Berkeley, was an influential Irish philosopher whose primary philosophical achievement is the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism" (later referred to as "subjective idealism" by others).
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