George Berkeley was one of the most important philosophers of the eighteenth century. His major works, The Principles of Human Knowledge and Three Dialogues, which have been acclaimed as literary and philosophical masterpieces, propounded his theory of immaterialism. Berkeley was born in Kilkenny in 1685, studied in Dublin, and rose in the Church to become Bishop of Cloyne. He also travelled widely and had a significant impact on the philosophical community in the New World during his sojourn in Newport, Rhode Island. He died in Oxford, 1753. Berkeley had a wide range of interests, and also made significant contributions to the early developments in mathematics and economics.
