To the Editors:
There is an odd misreading of one of Richard Wilburβs poems in Daniel Mark Epsteinβs otherwise interesting essay on Wilbur and metaphysics (βThe metaphysics of Wilbur,β April 2005). In the poem about George Berkeley, βA Chronic Condition,β the reference to βHylasβ is not to the Argonaut, but rather to one of the characters in Berkeleyβs βThree Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous,β in which Hylas defends the existence of a material world and Philonous, Berkeleyβs mouthpiece, espouses Idealism, denying the existence of matter. Similarly, βHylasβ treeβ does not refer to Wilbur, but rather to the famous βtree in the quadβ whose existence when not being perceived Berkeley has to struggle to account for (finally maintaining that when not perceived by a human mind it continues to exist as an idea in Godβs mind).
John Koethe
Department of Philosophy
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee