Peter Zinkernagel and David Favrholdt: A Response to George Berkeley in Twentieth-Century Danish Philosophy

Peter Zinkernagel and David Favrholdt: A Response to George Berkeley in Twentieth-Century Danish PhilosophyThe purpose of this essay is to elucidate some aspects of the theoretical philosophy developed by Peter Zinkernagel (1921-2003) and David Favrholdt (1931-2012), and of their response to George Berkeley’s philosophy in The Principles of Human Knowledge (1710). My particular aim is to present what I consider as Zinkernagel’s and Favrholdt’s most important philosophical contribution; namely, to distinguish between two different human approaches to reality: the one by action, the other by perception. Their most interesting attempt is to be found in their development and use of that distinction, initially in Zinkernagel’s book Conditions for Description (1957/1962), and culminating in Favrholdt’s development of a new conception of the distinction between primary and secondary qualities. The two thinkers had very much in common, although Zinkernagel is the initiator. Nevertheless, Favrholdt maintained an emphasis on language and communication, and later on developed this into his own points and stances, although still relying on the same fundamental distinction between action and perception – and on insights borrowed from Niels Bohr.