If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Context:
The famous 17th/18th century anglo-irish philosopher George Berkeley (1685 - 1753), in his work ‘‘A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge‘‘, once wrote:
‘‘But, say you, surely there is nothing easier than for me to imagine trees, for instance, in a park, or books existing in a closet, and nobody by to perceive them‘‘.
Aswell as:
‘‘The objects of sense exist only when they are perceived; the trees therefore are in the garden... no longer than while there is somebody by to perceive them‘‘.
I know taken on their own those 2 quotes from Berkeley will probably sound rather odd, but do actually look at the context in which he said them and the reasons he gave for his positions.
George Berkeley:
‘‘George Berkeley (/ˈbɑːrkli/ BARK-lee; 12 March 1685 – 14 January 1753), known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland), was an Anglo-Irish philosopher, writer, and clergyman who is regarded as the founder of "immaterialism", a philosophical theory he developed which was later referred to as "subjective idealism" by others. As a leading figure in the empiricism movement, he was one of the most cited philosophers of 18th-century Europe, and his works had a profound influence on the views of other thinkers, especially Immanuel Kant and David Hume. Interest in his ideas increased significantly in the United States during the early 19th century, and as a result, the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the city of Berkeley, California, were both named after him‘‘.
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