STCC Metaphysics Subjective & Empirical Idealism & Phenomenalism Discussion

Metaphysics Assignment

George Berkeley (pronounced “barkley”), in his subjective idealism, claimed the only things we could be sure of are that we have perceptions and that God must also perceive to explain our common perceptions, and that we could “know” nothing else. The positivists, such as Charles Sanders Peirce and Karl Popper, claimed that we could only know our sense perceptions from our five senses and nothing else. Others, such as Immanuel Kant, tried to take a middle route, claiming that some things were known through empiricle, observable data, but other truths existed but were difficult to study, as the nature of such perceptions was not verifiable.

In 500 words, contrast these points of view using the course materials and any other resources you may find, and explain your position on this issue. Is reality something that we learn about via our senses or some other way (if so what)? Or do we learn in multiple ways? How is such knowledge obtained?

Your paper should be submitted as a Word document with proper MLA documentation (in-text and in a works cited page) here.