Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2023-02-20]: We humans have a bit of a problem with reality. We experience it all the time, but struggle to define it, let alone understand it. It seems so solid and yet, when we examine it closely, it melts away like a mirage. We don’t know when it began, how big it is, where it came from and where it is going, and we certainly have no clue why it exists. Since ancient Greece, we have come a long way. What was once explained in terms of divine creation is now in the explained – or so we think – via science. Over the past 200 years or so, we have peeled back the layers of reality, even if we are still not entirely sure what we have revealed. But if anything, the mystery has only deepened. We are now at a point where it is equally credible to claim that reality is entirely dependent on subjective experience, or entirely independent of it. Reality has never felt so unreal. [1]
Silly questions.
What is real?
What is real but the perception of real?
How can anything be perceived as real without being such?
Can anything but a tautology exist?
Are we bound on our own definitions while chasing our tail?
With the proper definitions, anything can be real.
Without any definitions, we can still perceive reality.
Look at that table.
It is there.
Because you see it.
But it disappears the moment you don’t.
You can touch it.
Until the moment you cannot.
Question your questions.
Are you here?
Silly questions.
What is real?
What is real but the perception of real?
How can anything be perceived as real without being such?
Can anything but a tautology exist?
Are we bound on our own definitions while chasing our tail?
With the proper definitions, anything can be real.
Without any definitions, we can still perceive reality.
Look at that table.
It is there.
Because you see it.
But it disappears the moment you don’t.
You can touch it.
Until the moment you cannot.
Question your questions.
Are you here?
(Can the table touch you?)
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