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This chapter examines the elements of Platonic tradition in philosopher George Berkeley's early writings. It suggests that the elements of Platonic tradition are not isolated topics, loosely scattered in George Berkeley's work, but that his early writing forms an entire network of Platonic features, attitudes and mind-sets. No matter how ambiguous or allusive these Platonic features might seem, they constitute a coherent and complex whole that played an important role in shaping the very essence of Berkeley's thought.

This chapter examines the elements of Platonic tradition in Siris, the last published work of George Berkeley. It explains the nature and role of philosophy that characterize the Platonic tradition and identifies the specific rhetorical procedures through which Berkeley inserted the Platonic elements in his works. This chapter attempts to answer the questions on whether there is a sense in which this form of writing may betray certain Platonic suppositions and whether there are specific Platonic ways of textual construction that distinguish Platonism from other schools of thought.

This chapter examines the presence of alchemical tradition in Siris, the last published book of George Berkeley. It shows that apart from being under the strong influence of the Platonic tradition, Berkeley's thought seems to have been also marked by some of the intellectual inclinations, spiritual concerns, and mind-sets characterizing the alchemical tradition. It discusses Berkeley's arguments and notions in the book with constant reference to alchemical topics, writings and authors.

This chapter traces the triumph of the Kantian perspective. From the time of the Scientific Revolution to the present, vocal representatives are characterized as the Platonic approach or tradition and of the Aristotelian approach or tradition. Before the Origin, there were those like William Whewell and Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology at Cambridge, who simply put down the origins of new species to divine intervention. The fossil record shows that there has been a turnover of forms, and extinction is almost certainly due to natural causes. But when it comes to new forms, God intervenes miraculously. After the Origin, there were those who felt the same way. Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born ichthyologist and professor at Harvard, could never accept evolution, even though his students stepped over the line pretty sharpishly. The preferred option though, for those who were Christians believing in a Creator God, was some form of guided evolution. God puts direction into new variations and hence natural selection has at most a kind of garbage disposal function—it gets rid of the bad forms but does little or nothing to create new, good forms.

This chapter looks at the figure of Augustine, a prominent figure in Christianity that arrived chiefly through the Platonic tradition, which was most immediately expressed for him by Cicero and Plotinus. The chapter examines Augustine's inner exploration regarding the truth about the cosmos, an inner exploration of which he was the master of, and which also marks an important shift from the temper of the classical Roman world. The chapter looks particularly at Augustine's Confessions, exploring the theme of the extreme difficulties that Augustine experienced in his inner journey. It recounts his basic proposition that the mind is our clue to the nature of the cosmos because the mind is the only entity we can fully explore from within. In essence, this makes God an intellectual premise, deductible by reason, and “deeper than inmost being.” This chapter briefly discusses Augustine's inner journey, and how his background in the Platonic tradition would affect his views of Christianity.