ABSTRACT
George Berkeley was born near Kilkenny, Ireland, and, although an Anglican of English descent, he emphatically considered himself to be Irish. He studied at Kilkenny College and in 1700 went on to Trinity College, Dublin. There he read Descartes, Newton, and Locke. In 1707, he became a Fellow of the College and was ordained in the Anglican church. The next six years were to be the most philosophically productive in his life. In 1709, he published his New Theory of Vision, and in the following year, his most important philosophic work, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. In 1711, he wrote Discourse on Passive Obedience. Two years later, he published a more popular exposition of the doctrine of his Principles in the form of Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous.
