Question by callmesexxxy: a famous man named Dr. Samuel Johnson attempted to refute Berkeley’s metaphysical idealism?
A long time ago a famous man named Dr. Samuel Johnson attempted to refute Berkeley’s metaphysical idealism by kicking a very large rock (he subsequently injured his foot). Does Dr. Johnson’s actions constitute a disproof of Berkeley? Why or why not? Can metaphysical idealism ever be disproved? Why or why not?
Best answer:
Answer by Philip N
He refutes it by making it look ridiculous and stupid, but he does not disprove it. You can’t disprove it any more than you can disprove that a magical invisible dragon that no one can see lives in your basement, but you can certainly show that it is a ridiculous and stupid idea.
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It’s true in the sense that nothing objective exists in our subjective world. It’s not that the rock exists only in our minds, but rather that the rock is located and experienced in our reality. Reality IS subjective. Actuality is something different altogether. Reality is the hologram in which we live out our daily lives. A hologram is necessary in order to create space and time.
We can only feel, see, smell etc using the hologram. Anything that is not projected in the hologram is not experienceable and nothing to us. The hologram is “me”. The “me” is this 3d fractal program stemming from your intent.
Quantum physics is off base in a lot of ways, but they are right that we live in a projected reality. They are wrong about dark matter, about acausality, about randomness and more.
No, it is not a disproof. Berkeley’s idealism held that there is no underlying material substrate in which sensations inhere. Dr. Johnson gave himself a painful sensation in his foot, and maybe even heard the crunch of breaking toe, but these are still sensations. To disprove Berkeley, he would have to show that there was a material object there independent of anyone’s perceptions of it. What he does prove, however, is not to take philosophy too seriously. It is still just a rock, capable of breaking our foot, whatever fancy theories we spin around it!