Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous

The Oxford Philosophical Texts series consists of authoritative teaching editions of canonical texts in the history of philosophy from the ancient world down to modern times. Each volume provides a clear, well laid out text together with a comprehensive introduction by a leading specialist, giving the student detailed critical guidance on the intellectual context of the work and the structure and philosophical importance of the main arguments. Endnotes are supplied which provide further commentary on the arguments and explain unfamiliar references and terminology, and a full bibliography and index are also included.

The series aims to build up a definitive corpus of key texts in the Western philosophical tradition, which will form a reliable and enduring resource for students and teachers alike.

The Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713) were designed as a vivid and accessible presentation of the remarkable picture of reality that Berkeley had first presented three years earlier, in his Principles of Human Knowledge. His striking claim there, as here, was that physical things consist of nothing but ideas in minds. Berkeley uses this thesis as the ground for a new argument for the existence of God, and the dialogue form enables him to raise and respond to many of the natural objections to his position.

The text printed in this volume is that of the 1734 edition of the Dialogues, generally agreed to represent Berkeley's mature thought. It is supplemented by a comprehensive introduction which looks in detail at the structure and main arguments of the work and the relationship between the Dialogues and the Principles, and also discusses Berkeley's life, influences, and general philosophy. In addition the volume includes an analysis of the text, a glossary, detailed endnotes, and a full bibliography with guidance on further reading.

Published alongside the Principles (also edited by Jonathan Dancy), this new edition of Berkeley's most engaging text provides the student with a thorough introduction to the central ideas of one of the worlds greatest philosophers.