berkeley
esse
is percepi
George
Berkeley
1685-
1753
if
a tree should fall
if
a tree should fall
if
a tree should fall
if
a
t
r
e
e
e
fell
in a wood
that
was empty
of
all humans
wood
from the trees
wood
from the trees
trees
from the wood
trees
from the wood
would
that the wood would
the
trees that fall
all
the trees that fall
would
that all the trees that fall
were
heard by the persons
not
in the wood
but
in the trees
if
the trees would
if
the trees would
would
that the trees wood
were
fall
fall
where they were
in
the wood
without
people
fall
i
n
g
fall
i
n
g
w
o
o
d
w
o
u
l
d
falling
woods
falling
words
upon
the wood of the page
this
white wood
this
white page
would
that it were wood again
“Timber!”
Do
you hear the wood falling on the page?
the
peopleless wood
the
people that would
would
possibly
be
in the wood
that
would
That
would be a strong probability George, wouldn’t it?
And
George replies…
“People
are only being if they are being or if they have been perceived to be, at some
time.
The
proof is that if you a human, being human, were put away in solitary
confinement
for
a sustained period of time, solitary confinement that is, placed there in the
dark, deprived
of
all human contact for days and days and days and weeks without end, their food
and water
just
being supplied to them when they have fallen into sleep, say, so that they are
completely
isolated
from every possibly form of human contact, so that they are no longer
apparently
perceived
to be!”
He’s
there, isn’t he?
Is
he?
How
do you know?
More’s
to the point, how does he know?
He
only knows that he’s really there if you respond to him.
If
no one responds to him it is like he isn’t there, that’s what Boycotters do.
Ignore
him.
Splendid
isolation.
Isolated
to the point of splendour.
If
a tree were to fall
In
a wood
And
that wood
Were
Empty
Would
the tree
Have
really fallen?
It
would not have been perceived by any human
but
it would have been perceived by other trees
and
plants and animals, surely!
A
case of simple speciesism, surely!
Not
the point, the point is made about human perception.
In
other words…
In
order to exist in human eyes, one must first be perceived to be by others,
in
whatever guise it is one wishes to be perceived as, as otherwise, one does not
exist
in their eyes, at least in the way one wishes to be perceived to be.
Such
is the nature of human complexity.
George
Berkeley is remembered mainly for this unique insight into human perception.
It
terrified Samuel Beckett, this notion.
So
much so that he wrote a film script
Based
on the quote by Berkeley
esse
is
percepi
being
is being perceived to be
Buster
Keaton runs from the camera
he
tries to hide his gaze from it
and
is pursued by it
relentlessly
the
gaze of the Other
the
human eye
for
the whole length of the film
until
he is followed back into a room
where
there is finally no escape
from
the gaze
the
unwavering gaze
of
the relentless
human
eye
If
a tree should fall
If
a tree should fall
If
a tree should fall
In
the wood
In
the wood
In
the wood
The
empty wood
Would
that the tree would fall
There
Relentlessly
T
I
M
B
E
R
I
S
F
A
L
L
I
N
G
A
N
D
F
A
L
L
I
N
G
M
A
N
I
S
F
A
L
L
I
N
G
I
N
T
H
E
W
O
O
D
The
wood of words
Into
the wood of the self
Selfhood
A
darker place
One
wouldn’t wish
Ever
to go
I
see you beauty queen
I
see you in drag
My
fabulous brother
I
see you my black brother
I
see you my beautiful sister
Dressed
like a man
Dressed
like a woman
Fucking
like a dog
Moaning
like an animal
The
Berkeley Library was the name given to the main library in Trinity College
Dublin.
I
used to be a student there some years ago.
I
still go there to read texts by Beckett typed up by him and held in a special
readers room.
I
have a card which grants me access to the treasure throve.
I
like to go there when I can to read the contents of the treasure.
When
I was a student of philosophy, I used to go into The Berkeley Library
A
concrete structure of grey stone and glass, built like a bunker,
Facing
the rather elegant Long Hall Library where they keep The Book of Kells.
If
a tree were to fall …
I
used to stand before the monolith of shelves devoted to Martin Heidegger
up
there beneath the atrium
a
place of air and light
a
place of sheer essence
If
a tree were to fall…
We
are all falling
Since
the first man
And
woman fell
And
we are still falling
Let
the first man
Cast
a stone
Who
has not too themselves
Fallen
Let
them cast the stone
Let
them cast it now
I
wish to see them casting the stone
I
wish to see the stone of man falling
Falling
like a tree in a wood that is filled to the brim of spectacular minds
With
crystalline perceptions
Come let them cast
Come
see them falling…
Do
you see them?
Do
you hear them falling?
Come
see them cast
Come
hear them falling…
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