IBS logoINTERNATIONAL BERKELEY SOCIETY


BISHOP GEORGE BERKELEY was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, on 12 March 1685. He made important contributions in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, and economics. He is especially famous as the author of the philosophical theory known as "immaterialism." He died in Oxford, England, on 14 January 1753.

THE INTERNATIONAL BERKELEY SOCIETY (founded in 1975) holds meetings, conferences, and symposia, and publishes the results of scholarly research on both sides of the Atlantic and brings attention and information, both old and new, about George Berkeley and his works.

President: Stephen Daniel (Texas A&M University)

Past President: Lou Alfonso (Rhode Island College, emeritus)

Vice-President: Timo Airaksinen (University of Helsinki)

Secretary-Treasurer: Nancy Kendrick (Wheaton College, Massachusetts)

Membership Secretary: Genevieve Migely (Cornell College, Iowa)

Philosophy Associations Coordinator: Margaret Atherton (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee)

Recording Secretary: Amy Garrison (Newport, RI)

Archivist: Maureen Lapan (North Kingston, RI)

 

Forthcoming Discussion Venues and Conferences
  • 29th December 2008, 11:15-1:15; American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, Marriott Downtown; IBS Session: "Authors Meet Critics: Recent Books on Berkeley"
    • Session One: Talia Bettcher’s Berkeley’s Philosophy of Spirit
      • Critic: Daniel Flage (James Madison University)
      • Response: Talia Bettcher (California State University, Los Angeles)
    • Session Two: John Roberts’ A Metaphysics for the Mob: The Philosophy of George Berkeley
      • Critic: Walter Ott (Virginia Tech University)
      • Response: John Roberts (Florida State University)
      For more information, contact the session chair, Margaret Atherton.
  • 19th February 2009, American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL, Palmer House Hilton Hotel, IBS Session
    • CALL FOR PAPERS: You are invited to submit a paper (no more than 12 pages long) to be presented at the IBS session of the APA Central meeting. Send your paper as an email attachment to Margaret Atherton no later than September 5, 2008.
  • 17th-20th August 2009, International Berkeley Conference, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
    • The Karlsruhe conference will commemorate the 300th anniversary of the publication of Berkeley’s New Theory of Vision. For more information, contact Bertil Belfrage.
  • August 2010, International Berkeley Conference, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
    • The Neuchâtel conference commemorates the 300th anniversary of the publication of Berkeley’s Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. For more information, contact Richard Glauser.

Recent conferences: click here for participants, presentation titles, photos

  • 26th-28th June 2008, Newport, Rhode Island, International Berkeley Conference

  • 17th April 2008, Chicago, IL, American Philosophical Association, Central Division Meeting, IBS Session

  • 7th-8th March 2008, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, sponsored by the Edinburgh Philosophy Society

  • 29th December 2007, Baltimore, MD, American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division meeting, IBS Session

  • 27th-29th September 2007, Gaeta, Italy, sponsored by the University of Cassino

  • 6th-9th August 2007, Helsinki, Finland, sponsored by the University of Helsinki

  • 28th December 2006,Washington, D.C., American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division meeting, IBS Session
  • 5th-8th September 2005, Department of Philosophy, University of Tartu, Estonia
  • 20th-23rd October 2003, Department of Philosophy at the University of Rennes

  • April 3rd-5th 2003, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas (link to the Texas A&M Berkeley conference website)

Membership

You are cordially invited to become a member of the Society, which was founded to enable its members to share their interest in George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, the eminent philosopher and theologian and to be aware of his impact on philosophy, theology, science, and culture of western civilisation, both past and present.

The annual dues are US $15. Money should be sent in US dollars only, together with your address and institutional affiliation (if any) to the IBS at Texas A&M University, at the address below. For your convenience, you may wish to pay your dues online using a major credit card (Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express), or you may use the attached Membership Form.

Members are also invited to donate any amount to the Society’s research fund for translations, book subventions, conferences, and other projects that enhance Berkeley scholarship. Those who donate $10 or more to this fund receive a DVD of “The Dean of Thin Air,” an hour-long PBS-produced movie about George Berkeley.

We cannot process checks in any currency other than American dollars. Members in other countries are encouraged to make payments online using a credit card.

The International Berkeley Society
Department of Philosophy
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4237
U.S.A.

Whitehall

You are also invited to add a voluntary donation of $5 to your subscription to support the valued but impoverished Berkeley library (click for holdings) in our Study Center at the Berkeley Museum House in Whitehall. Please send your donation with the annual subscription to Texas A&M at the above address. Whitehall was built by Berkeley as his home while he and his family lived in Rhode Island, and is shown on the right. It is open for visitors throughout the year.

 

Whitehall Museum House
311 Berkeley Avenue,
Middletown,
Rhode Island RI 02840,
U.S.A.

Whitehall, Rhode Island (click for enlargement)
Click on picture
for enlargement
and details.
(Photo: I.C. Tipton.)

The Berkeley Briefs and Berkeley Studies (formerly Berkeley Newsletter)

The Berkeley Briefs is an annual publication of the IBS. It includes news items and other announcements of interest to the Society and its members. Click here for the latest issue.


Berkeley Studies is an annual on-line journal. It contains scholarly articles, short research notes, abstracts of conference papers, book reviews, and bibliographic updates of the latest work on Berkeley. In December 2007, the Berkeley Newsletter officially became Berkeley Studies. Click here to go to the Berkeley Studies website.

Although Berkeley Studies receives occasional assistance from the IBS, its editorial operations are independent from the Society.

1. History of the Society

 

 

 

 

A short narrative of the IBS from its foundation in 1975 to the present day, compiled by Ian C. Tipton (at left, at the Texas A&M conference), and Maureen Lapan and Raymond W. Houghton (at right, at the Rennes conference).

 

2. Bookshop

An online 'bookshop' for books by, or about, George Berkeley. These pages have links to external web sites that can take orders for books via the internet. The main file lists all Berkeleian books that are believed to be in print, or at least still available, in English. A second file lists Berkeleian books in other languages. This file is initially rather limited, but will be expanding. A third file, for reference, lists recent books that are currently out of print.

3. Bulletin board

The bulletin board of the International Berkeley Society exists for the following aims:

  • To display announcements of the Society
  • To display any other announcements that may be relevant to anyone with an interest in George Berkeley
  • Open discussion on topics pertaining to George Berkeley

 

Click here to check for the most recent messages. (After it opened up in February 2000, the bulletin board took a while to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem: nobody wants to make contributions to a discussion in which there are not yet any other discussants! Now, however, there is a growing number of ongoing conversations, and you are encouraged to join in!)

4. Geographical sites

Berkeley travelled widely from his home town of Kilkenny, Ireland: he lived in Dublin, Cloyne, London, and Oxford at different times; he travelled through Europe, with extended stays in Italy and France; and he spent four seminal years in Rhode Island, U.S.A. On this page, we are accumulating information about sites that are of significance in Berkeley's life.

You may like to know that Whitehall, Berkeley's house in Rhode Island (1729-1731), is open to the public at the following times:

·    1st July until the end of August

·    six days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Whitehall, Rhode Island (click for enlargement)
(Click on picture for enlargement.)

See our Whitehall page for more details on the times of opening.

5. External links

On this page we list hypertext links to:

  • General introductions to Berkeley and his work
  • Scholarly papers and articles.
  • Historical web sites
  • Online texts of Berkeley's writings

 

You may also be interested in our web rings page.

6. Turbayne Essay Prize

Berkeley scholars may like to be aware of the Turbayne essay prize, which is run by the Philosophy Department at the University of Rochester. The page at this site provides some background information, whereas official details have been placed by John Bennett at the following address:

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: see modification history.
Maintained by sdaniel@philosophy.tamu.edu .