„Three dialogues“ 

Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous are an ideal introduction to modern metaphysics and epistemology!

The texts gathered in the book Three Dialogues by one of the most original philosophers by birth, English-Irish philosopher George Berkeley are, for the first time, completely translated into Lithuanian. The arguments accumulate and give an opportunity to elucidate a major part of all modern philosophy – from Descartes, (1596-1650) to the phenomenologists of the 20th century, to dialectical materialists, neo-positivist thinkers and analytics. That is the reason why they are the ideal introduction into modern metaphysics and epistemology.

Berkeley wrote these dialogues in 1713 (other publications in 1725 and 1734) seeking in a more acceptable manner to present his thesis, which he had announced in Treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge, published in 1710. In the Three Dialogues, the author tried more clearly to pave the way for them and introduce them in a shape of an attractive conversation between two nominally equal partners. By the way, Philonous (in Ancient Greek philo means love and nous – mind, soul) represents the author himself, and Hylas (in Ancient Greek means wood, matter) – the opponent of his thesis. (We can dub Philonous “the Enlightened person”, and Hylas – “the Woodman”).

Literarily, Berkeley fulfilled the task. As Howard Robinson writes, “Three Dialogues are the masterpiece of literature and philosophy. The style is almost ideally clear, as well as the dynamics of the debates.”