What is Berkeley's view regarding perception and existence?

Berkeley's philosophical view posits that "to be is to be perceived," which means that the existence of objects depends on them being perceived by a conscious observer. This idea is central to his subjective idealism, where he argues that material objects do not exist independently of our perception of them. In Berkeley's framework, something only has reality if it can be perceived; therefore, perception is a fundamental component of existence itself.

This perspective challenges the notion of a material world existing independently of human experience. Berkeley famously summarized this view with the Latin phrase "esse est percipi," reinforcing the relationship between existence and perception. Thus, his philosophy suggests that if an object is not perceived, it effectively does not exist in any meaningful sense. This viewpoint contrasts sharply with theories that assert the independence of objects from observers, emphasizing the subjective nature of reality based on perceptual experience.