A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

Toward the end of the Treatise, Berkeley addresses how philosophy can and should lead us to an awareness and worship of God. Accordingly, religion is the focus in these final sections.

Berkeley argues that the principles he has outlined in the book act as a support for both philosophy and religion. By denying the existence of matter, and by identifying existence with perception, we solve many intellectual problems. By preserving the distinction between spirit and idea, we will not reject the existence of spirit and thus fall into materialism. The doctrine that spirit is a vital and active principle also leads us to embrace the doctrine that the soul is naturally immortal, since spirit by its nature cannot be affected by material decay. The consideration of spirits will also lead us gradually to the consideration of the supreme spirit, God.

The existence of God is, indeed, more obvious than most people realize. When we see the “works of nature” (97), we see things that are not caused by or dependent on human beings; thus, we infer that they have another cause; and this cause must be a spirit, since only spirit can be an active cause. Hence, we come to a belief in God as the ultimate cause of all things.

This perception is enhanced by considering the “harmony,” “regularity,” and “order” in nature, which point to the existence of “one, eternal, infinitely wise, good, and perfect” (98) being who is God. In fact, everything we see in nature testifies to God’s existence—even things which we view as evils. If we took a broader, more comprehensive view, we would see that such things serve a purpose in the whole scheme of life and in the interdependence of all created things.

In short, anyone can see God’s existence if they only open their eyes. The ultimate goal of philosophy in the Christian world as well as of Berkeley’s Treatise is to discover “the presence of God” and to “embrace the salutary truths of the Gospel” (104), which preaches the practice of “virtue” and the rejection of “vice.” Thus philosophy, for Berkeley, supports and enhances the moral and religious life.