Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 804

GEORGE BERKELEY (1685-1753) Philosophical reflexions and inquiries concerning the virtues of tar water, and divers other subjects connected together and arising one from another. Printed for C. Hitch and C. Davis 1744 176 pp. 19 cm.

Berkeley was an Anglican bishop who was active in several fields, but he is remembered chiefly as a philosopher and his major works were in the field of philosophy. He was born of English stock near Kilkenny, Ireland, and always regarded himself as a true Irishman in spite of his English parentage and religious affiliation. In his philosophy, Berkeley went beyond John Locke, who had argued that qualities such as color and taste arise in the mind while primary qualities of matter such as weight exist independently of the mind. Berkeley held that both types of qualities are known only in the mind and that matter does not exist independently of perception. He went on to demonstrate that qualities are perceived and that their perception is relative to the perceiver. Several authorities believe that the present work is responsible for beginning the tar water fad that swept through England during the late 1740s. Berkeley discusses the preparation and use of tar water as well as the diseases and afflictions for which it is recommended.

Cited references: Osler 1069; Wellcome II, p. 149 (2nd ed., 1744)