Abstrakt
This chapter investigates the relation between Berkeley's active self and the faculty of perception, focusing on his Three Dialogues. First, it is shown how Berkeley is opposed to any perceptual account of self-knowledge because the passive ideas of perception disqualify them from representing the active self.
Then, the role of this active self in perception is investigated. In the First Dialogue Philonous argues that perception is a thoroughly passive state, thus rendering it difficult to conceive how an active self can be the perceiving subject.
It is argued, however, that Berkeley's mature view relieves this difficulty by giving the self a participatory role in sensory perception, combining the elements of sensory input into a unified and coherent conscious experience. Notice is taken of how Berkeley shares the later view of Immanuel Kant with respect to the conceptual penetration of perception.