Chapter 22, Berkeley Summary

Alberto and Sophie look out the window. They see a plane with a trailing banner saying "Happy Birthday, Hilde." Sophie wonders if the Major's powers are God-like. Alberto starts the next lesson about the philosopher and Irish Bishop, George Berkeley (1685-1753). Though a Bishop, Berkeley is the most extreme of the empiricists. While Locke will see an apple but doubt it to be green and sour, Berkeley will doubt its perception altogether. By the logic of empiricism, Berkeley doubts all our perceptions. Sophie calls this a stupid theory.

Berkeley believes that all our ideas have a spiritual origin because everything comes from God, even our sensory perceptions. Everything exists in the mind of God. After hearing this about the philosopher Berkeley, Sophie becomes nervous. She realizes that she and Alberto exist in the mind of the Major. And Hilde is an...