Berkeley (George Berkeley)

George Berkeley was an 18th-century philosopher best known for his theory of immaterialism, or idealism, which suggests that physical objects do not exist independently outside of our perceptions. According to Berkeley, things only exist as perceptions in our minds or in the minds of perceivers, ultimately grounded in the awareness of an omnipresent being, which is often identified as God. This view challenges the idea that matter exists independently of perception, emphasizing the role of experience and consciousness in constituting reality. In essence, Berkeley argued that our perception and consciousness are fundamental to existence itself.