A . A . Luce Arthur Aston Luce MC ( 21 August 1882 – 28 June 1977 ) was professor of philosophy at Trinity College , Dublin and also Precentor of St Patrick ' s Cathedral , Dublin ( 1952 – 1973 ) . Throughout his life he held many clerical appointments and was Vice - Provost of Trinity from 1946 - 1952 . He was widely known as an authority on the philosopher George Berkeley . His fellowship of Trinity College from 1912 to 1977 is a record . Life . Schooling . Luce was born in Gloucester on 21 August 1882 . He was the fourth son of the Reverend John James Luce and Alice Luce ( née Stubbs ) . He was educated at Lindley Lodge School and Eastbourne College . He entered Trinity College , Dublin in 1901 . He obtained his BA in 1905 , BD in 1908 and MA in 1911 . Early academic work . Luce ' s earlier work focuses largely on theological matters within Christianity . His academic career was interrupted by World War I , in which he served with the 12th Royal Irish Rifles . He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 . After the war he published " Monophysitism Past and Present " ( 1921 ) which deals with the nature of Jesus and his relationship to the world . The following year he published his Donnellan Lectures on Henri Bergson where he examined issues in psychology and evolution as well as religion . Work on Berkeley . From the 1930s Luce became interested in the Irish philosopher George Berkeley . Luce felt many of the previous studies of Berkeley were in many ways inadequate and sometimes wrong . His unearthing of new sources on Berkeley as well as better ways of interpreting existing sources guided Luce ' s work in this direction . Luce stressed the role of the French monk Malebranche on influencing the thought of the young Berkeley . Prior to Luce ' s " Berkeley and Malebranche " ( 1934 ) Berkeley had been seen almost solely in the patrimony of John Locke and empiricism . Berkeley ' s mature philosophy was given lucid exposition by Luce in his 1945 work " Berkeley ' s Immaterialism " . Along with Thomas Edmund Jessop he edited " The Works of George Berkeley " ( in nine volumes , 1948 – 1957 ) . Luce was not only a Berkeley scholar but came to be a believer in Berkelianism itself . In " Sense without Matter " ( 1954 ) Luce attempts to bring Berkeley up to date by modernising the philosophers vocabulary and putting the issues Berkeley faced in today ' s terms . In this work Luce also treats of the Biblical account of matter ( or rather the lack of such an account ) and the psychology of perception and nature . Berkeley ' s personal reputation among historians and the public was also an area which Luce felt needed correcting and updating . Some studies of Berkeley had contributed to his reputation as a dreamer or a loner who often hid his real views . Luce ' s " Life of George Berkeley , Bishop of Cloyne " ( 1949 ) takes aim at this picture of Berkeley and by careful use of ( often new ) sources paints a more grounded picture of the man . Personal . In 1918 Luce married Lilian Mary Thomson with whom he had three children . Tragically his wife and young daughter were drowned in 1940 . His original academic work and numerous administrative and clerical appointments earned him a solid local and international reputation . He was regarded as a fine preacher and respected tutor . His hobbies were chess and particularly angling on which he wrote a book ( " Fishing and Thinking " 1959 ) which is regarded highly among anglers : to his freshmen philosophy students , he would muse , " fishing and philosophy : trout and truth ! " He died , shortly after an assault , on 28 June 1977 .