Silis: A Chain of Philosophical Reflection and Discussion

Author: Berkeley Highmin Cao Man
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-07-01
Features: A Treatise of Hylomorphism was first published in Dublin in early 1744. Including this edition, a total of 6 editions were printed that year, with 2 published in Dublin and 4 in London. In 1747, a revised edition was published after Berkeley's revisions. The book was not only extremely popular in Britain but was also quickly translated into other languages, such as Dutch, French, and German in 1745, and was even abridged into Spanish in 1786. It was not until the 20th century that the entire book was translated into other languages, such as German in 1914 and French in 1920. This was mainly because, during Berkeley's lifetime, the Treatise of Hylomorphism was highly valued in Britain and some countries on the continent because it introduced a new medicine that was said to have extraordinary effects on many places and many diseases, even being called a "miracle cure." As a result, it was favored as a medically valuable book. However, with Berkeley's death and the passing of the tar water controversy, especially when it was proven that tar water could not cure all diseases, the Treatise of Hylomorphism gradually faded from people's memories. In the following period, philosophers and historians of philosophy were not very interested in it either. However, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the fate of the Treatise of Hylomorphism underwent a comical change. As mentioned earlier, its credit mainly goes to A.C. Frazer. He secondly discovered the philosophical value of the book, revealed its significance in the development of Berkeley's philosophy and the broader history of philosophy, and proposed new research conclusions on Berkeley's philosophy, such as the idea that Berkeley moved from An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision to the Treatise of Hylomorphism, actually shifting from Locke to Plato, and that the Treatise of Hylomorphism expressed a new philosophy different from his early philosophy. From then on, the Treatise of Hylomorphism became popular again in Britain and on the continent. Scholars rushed to write books, leading to a large number of works on Berkeley's thought and forming a rare climax in the study of Berkeley's philosophy. Unlike the second time, people's interest was no longer in the tar water in the Treatise of Hylomorphism but in the rich philosophical ideas it contained. The writing and publication of the Treatise of Hylomorphism were both related to the social and historical conditions of the time and to Berkeley's difficult life experiences and the special environment of his later years. It was both a product of the historical and logical development of Berkeley's own philosophy and an inevitable result of the long-term debate between empiricism and rationalism in modern philosophy. As we know, after the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 in England, the bourgeoisie, although sharing some political power, allowed capitalist production relations to develop further, but the remnants of the feudal class and ideology still held an important position, and feudal production relations still played a crucial role to a certain extent and degree. These were not in harmony with the emerging capitalist production relations and greatly hindered the development of productivity. In response, as the spokesperson of the bourgeoisie and a keen thinker, Berkeley