BERKELEY ON PERCEPTUAL DISCRIMINATION OF PHYSICAL OBJECTS

Commentators are divided over whether Berkeley holds that physical objects are immediately perceived by sense. As I read Berkeley, discrimination is necessary for perceiving physical objects by sense. He says that discrimination requires a perception of motion. Since motions can only be mediately perceived, according to Berkeley, physical objects can be perceived by sense only mediately. I defend this reading against three objections. I also propose a new objection to the claim that physical objects are immediately perceived for Berkeley. I argue that immediate perception is neither necessary nor sufficient to perceive an object by sense, according to Berkeley.