"A collection of properties…." George and Berkeley had continued their conversation whilst exploring the neighbourhood. Stunning, beautiful scrapers that nearly overwhelmed the senses. From an empirical standpoint, that is, knowledge is gained through sensory experiences, this could be seen as an ideal blueprint.
"The gestalts put forth the notion of perceiving reality as a whole, and not just its individual constituents…." George muttered to himself, Berkeley's spirit was only visible and perceivable to him.
"An implication of my work you theorise?" Berkeley, mesmerised by the view, questioned. He floated through other people, almost as if they were non-existent to him.
"Perhaps, it may not be as direct, but the potential exists. They argued against the perception as a passive process and fought for-"
"and fought for it to be an active process," Berkeley turned around and smiled. Together they were on a journey, oblivious to them at the moment, but they walked the path of revolutionaries.
"Then! Phenomenology!!" George exclaimed out loud with his eyes wide open.
"Phainomenon? Ah!" Berkeley managed to connect the dots. For him, Greek was like another language. Considering the fact that the majority of English language uses words with a foundation of either Greek or Latin, it didn't take too much for him to establish the connection.
(Authors Note: You see, the word itself was first ever used in 1907, in Edmund Husserl's article. Berkeley was born on 12th March, 1685)
"Yes," he nodded and stroked his chin as he spoke, "It is not objective knowledge that I truly argued for. Rather, the fact that ultimately subjective knowledge is what remains absolute,"
"Phenomenology as you claim, must refer to how the consciousness experiences reality, that is knowledge as we perceive it and not as it is. Our perception is all we have. While, this," Berkeley pointed to the society around him and continue, "this is far too extreme…"
"The planning, the style, everything reflects on the Gestalt's, no, YOUR idea of perception," George pointed to the buildings around him. As a result of society functioning in such a manner, the people living are naturally bound to conform to the standards.
There was an additional emphasis on products that inculcated photography and virtual reality. They were a supplement to the entire process of perceiving. It was a solution brought forward by the Perspectres, helping them establish their presence and foundation.
Photographs, they were absolutely crucial and heavily intertwined with the flow of society. It allowed for individuals and their consistent perception, as in, it allowed for others to constantly perceive them, which in turn maintained their existence.
However, the consequences of such a general understanding were vast. Social media and virtual reality were more less a new measure of power. They were consistent with the output of "existential energy".
(A/N: Existential energy in this case refers to the hypothetical energy received by the individual being perceived.)
He was right. Berkeley was right. This society built purely on one mans words. One mans philosophy, and yet at the same time, oblivious to the identity of this individual. It was ridiculous, unfathomable even.
"The emphasis on today's subjective experience, can it all be accredited to you?" George asked, the information overload was getting to a new high, the possibilities were endless in his mind.
"You are mistaken my friend. Whilst my work could have acted as a foundation, I am but one of the many. To solely accredit me for this entire field of knowledge….it would be arrogant on my part to accept such a thing…"
George nodded, he could understand what Berkeley meant. As a researcher himself he often found himself staring into the abyss. The more he learnt, the more he understood the reality that there was an exponentially larger amount of information left to surface. Moreover, it was impossible to trace back the exact contributions of renowned figures.
"Do you truly believe optical illusions are but mere discrepancies?" George questioned, at this point, it was evident that he was star struck. He acknowledged the fact that he digressed far too much, but there was simply no helping it.
"What do you suppose?" Berkeley asked in return.
"Are they not part of reality? part of our vision? Kant proposed the existence of mental structure through which we receive information. What if it were more of a conditioned response? We are awfully familiar to reality as we usually receive it. Proximity, perhaps even the reflection of light, shape, size, all of these factors tweaking and impacting our ultimate perception of an optical illusion. They aren't discrepancies but "less frequently observed" phenomenon.." It was practically an entire theory on its own. George's interest and functioning allowed for him to tap into his reservoir of knowledge.
"Which would then complement my own statement of accepting reality as it appears within our consciousness…" It was Berkeley's time to be dumbfounded. It was truly something interesting, a concept he rarely came across. "You….." he muttered and thought to himself. Internally, he cursed himself for having not thought of such a thing.
Having now revealed to him that an entire society was built on his findings and theories, Berkeley was disheartened. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Was he truly the reason for such extremism?
"God shall have mercy upon me…" he muttered to himself, slowly praying and hoping he would be able to overcome this adversity.
"In this world…are you not God?" George cocked his head and replied. "Think about it. They function purely on your words. The words and findings of one man and one man alone. Not only do they not know the identity of their "ancestor" but they've misunderstood him. To blindly believe the words of someone that doesn't exist, is it not very similar?"
The one existence that Berkeley held close throughout his philosophical views. He held the belief that faith would allow for him to overcome and included the existence of a God in his own work.
And yet. Here he was. At a new cross-roads, an unfathomable one. One where he was in the shoes of the Divine and All-mighty. Were his words literally not law?