Was Ireland’s greatest philosopher a hero, villain or ‘man of his time’?

'Unthinkable: A new biography of George Berkeley brings out the complexity of his character'

Joe Humphreys interviews Tom Jones, author of George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life at The Irish Times.

"Is it fair to say that, to the extent that Berkeley was interested in the condition of slaves, it was on the narrow point of whether or not they should be baptised?"

"... Baptism is, indeed, what seems most to concern Berkeley about slavery... For him, however, baptism is not a narrow point, but a key element of human dignity. Being admitted to religious instruction and the rites of the church was being recognised as human where it mattered most, in Berkeley’s view."

See Berkeley, The Principles of Human Knowledge, Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 35, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 33.

(via Jay Gold)