Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The Rhetoric of Berkeley's Philosophy
  • Cited by 10
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
August 2009
Print publication year:
1990
Online ISBN:
9780511519130
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511519130
Subjects:
Literature, Philosophy: General Interest, British History after 1450, English Literature 1700-1830, Philosophy
Series:
Cambridge Studies in Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Thought (6)
Information

Book description

The works of George Berkeley (1685–1753) have been the object of much philosophical analysis; but philosophers are writers as well as thinkers, and Berkeley was himself positively interested in the functions of language and style. He recognized that words are used not just to convey ideas, but to stir the emotions and influence the behaviour of the hearer or reader. The Rhetoric of Berkeley's Philosophy, first published in 1990, offers rhetorical and literary analyses of his four major philosophical texts, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Alciphron and Siris. The Berkeley that emerges from this study is an accomplished stylist, one who builds structures of affective imagery, who creates dramatic voices in his texts, and who masters the range of philosophical genres - the treatise, the dialogue and the essay. Above all, Berkeley's awareness of the rhetorical functions of language is everywhere evident in his own style. His texts persuade as well as prove, enacting a process of inquiry so that the reader may, in the end, grasp Berkeley's truths as his own.

Reviews

"...the reader can turn from Walmsley's work not only with fresh insights, but with new tools for approaching the works of Berkeley's contemporaries (especially Hume) and relating them to Berkeley's own works." Studies in English Literature

"The Rhetoric of Berkeley's Philosophy, particularly Walmsley's chapter on the character of the elenchus, can be strongly recommended to readers." Bob Robinson, South Atlantic Review

"Walmsley provides a very thorough account, showing how Berkeley's studied choice of language aids him in manipulating the reader. One comes away from this book filled with admiration both for Walmsley as an analyst and for Berkeley as a stylist." Margaret Atherton, Eighteenth-Century Studies

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.