Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous

Written by George Berkeley

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Berkeley uses Hylas as his primary contemporary philosophical adversary, John Locke. A Hylas is featured in Greek mythology and the name Hylas is derived from an ancient Greek word for "matter" which Hylas argues for in the dialogues. Philonous translates as "lover of mind." In The First Dialogue, Hylas expresses his disdain for skepticism, adding that he has heard Philonous to have "maintained the most extravagant opinion... namely, that there is no such thing as material substance in the world." Philonous argues that it is actually Hylas who is the skeptic and that he can prove it. Thus, a philosophical battle of wit begins.(Summary from Wikipedia)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

George Berkeley

George Berkley (1685–1753) was an Irish philosopher who thrived during the 18th century’s Age of Enlightenment. Born in Ireland and educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree before entering a career as a lecturer. Berkley’s first notable work as a writer was An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision published in 1709. Yet, his biggest successes came with A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge followed by Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. Berkley’s best known for his Theory of Immaterialism and contributions to the British Empiricism movement.