11
votes
Accepted
What is the definition of real?
There is no one canonical and privileged definition of 'real'. However, in the most intuitive sense, it is anything that is independent of us and our existence and immediately apprehensible. This is ...
- 22.6k
5
votes
Do objects exist as the way we think they do even when nobody sees them
If you would have the size of an electron, no objects like cars or clouds would exist for you. If you would live a billion times slower, animals would look like sparks for you. If you would have the ...
- 6,831
5
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What is the definition of real?
Paraphrasing Wikipedia on quantum mechanics, an object is real if outcomes of measurements of the object are well-defined prior to – and independent of – the measurements.
Considering your examples, ...
- 646
3
votes
What is the definition of real?
"Cogito, ergo sum."
I think, therefore I am. The only thing we can readily depend upon being real is ourselves.
Of course, this is tremendously unlikely and raises a whole host of other ...
- 400
3
votes
Do objects exist as the way we think they do even when nobody sees them
As an ex-physicist, I am firmly of the view that everyday objects exist, but as you point out, some of the qualities we attribute to them, such as colour and scent, are invented by the mind, while ...
- 12.8k
3
votes
Does the imagination qualify as any form of evidence?
One problem if you accept imagination as evidence, is that you can imagine pretty much anything. It is too arbitrary and open-ended, there is no necessity. "Evidence" seems to lose its ...
- 2,405
3
votes
Accepted
Does the imagination qualify as any form of evidence?
In the case you propose, the fact that you believe in those beings is not evidence that they exist - even in theory. However, if you have some good reason for thinking that they might exist, it could ...
- 2,455
3
votes
How is Truth Different From Reality?
Truth is a property of statements. Reality is not true, rather it is real. Only symbolic language can be true, when the meaning of those symbols is close enough to reality, ie when they don't ...
- 1,667
2
votes
Can something real be an association to something else?
The real problem here, I think, is that posing such a problem really ends up being sufficiently resolved with recourse to "the conditions of possibility in general". Ie, there has to be ...
- 21
2
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Circularity in definition of Real
Some concepts are fundamental, in the sense that they cannot be explained in terms of anything simpler. For example, distance, time, mass and charge cannot be broken down into more fundamental ideas. ...
- 12.8k
2
votes
Accepted
When is an illusion liberative?
I think there are outright falsehoods (e.g., all squares are circles) and then there are "perspectives". Some perspectives lead to too much freedom (e.g., you will be rewarded in heaven for ...
- 1,409
2
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When is an illusion liberative?
In 'Fascicle 47: On the Vines That Entangle, the Vines That Embrace' (available eg at The Zen Site) in the Shobogenzo of Eihei Dogen, the contrast is made between the negative qualities of ...
- 20.5k
2
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An object exist means what? And what is the relation of it with space and time?
You have answered your own question without releasing it. Ideas of the mind exist as ideas of the mind. If I imagine a giant pink unicorn, then it exists in an abstract sense. It does not exist in the ...
- 12.8k
1
vote
What is the definition of real?
"If a tree falls in a forest and no-one witnesses it, did it happen?"
Reality is that for which the answer is "yes".
Certainly a concept in philosophy exists for which the answer ...
- 1,722
1
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Circularity in definition of Real
You say :
I'm having a hard time understanding the adjective 'real'.
Well, you should, because no-one knows.
For example, if you go to Wikipedia to find out what is "earth" you will end up ...
- 1,458
1
vote
Accepted
Circularity in definition of Real
OP: How can we define Reality = {x: x ∈ Reality} and make it be informative?
Short answer: Actuality = {x: x ∈ Reality && x.exists}
Kant defines something as 'real' if it is possible, in ...
- 5,188
1
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Circularity in definition of Real
... to say that y is a real boy, is to say that y is a boy, and y is in the collection of things that are real.
You might find it useful to reflect on Real Men Don't Eat Quiche, by Bruce Feirstein: ...
- 429
1
vote
Circularity in definition of Real
The statement that the set of real things contains real things obviously does not define "real".
I agree with Descartes, the overarching set is our Experience (all the things in our current ...
- 107
1
vote
AI paradox in DKIW hierarchy
A very confused question. For one, you got the DKIW pyramid all wrong. It is a very useful framework for knowledge management, so let me try and sort that out:
Data is "the given" ie a set ...
- 1,667
1
vote
When is an illusion liberative?
If we go with Spinoza, never.
As exposed in Ethics, illusions are "inadequate ideas", it is to say representations in ones mind that do not fit with reality. Such ideas prevent one from ...
- 5,126
1
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When is an illusion liberative?
Perhaps I am not understanding your question, because I am finding something perplexing in it, but I wanted to offer two perspectives that might address it.
The idea that we necessarily start with ...
- 707
1
vote
Accepted
What is the philosophy that deals with concepts being correctly fitted to reality or "carving reality at the joints"?
The most widely used term for fitting thought to reality is simply called philosophy. For all of the scraping and arguing over what philosophy is, one theme continually found among philosophers is the ...
- 22.6k
1
vote
What is the philosophy that deals with concepts being correctly fitted to reality or "carving reality at the joints"?
The concept you are working with is the inference to fundamental reality that we make when we infer realism to our models and theories. And yes, we do that in non-science fields like logic, math, and ...
- 10.5k
1
vote
How is Truth Different From Reality?
Like other words, truth is just a symbol before definitions give it meaning. Somebody has to define it, otherwise it's just a picture or a noise. Then it means (to them) what they define it to mean, ...
- 3,400
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Does the imagination qualify as any form of evidence?
We should clarify the term “evidence”. In a court of law, evidence is anything that may be examined, but it does not necessarily prove any given conclusion. On the other hand, in common language many ...
- 163
1
vote
Can reality exist without anything/anyone?
I am inclined to believe that if all humans died overnight, the Universe would still be here in the morning, so if you consider the Universe to be real then reality can exist without anyone.
Whether ...
- 12.8k
1
vote
Difficulty finding real life examples of the bad reasons fallacy, is this fallacy committed often?
The problem with the “bad reasons” fallacy: You tell me that X is true because of some bad reason. The logical conclusion is that we don’t know if X is true or not.
But if you had a reason to convince ...
- 5,243
1
vote
How can we be certain that we cannot be certain?
The statement that we cannot be 100% certain about anything is patently false. I am 100% certain I can not lift an ocean liner unaided, that I can not run a mile in thirty seconds, that the mass of ...
- 12.8k
1
vote
How can we be certain that we cannot be certain?
Randy Zeitman in his answer says:
It's completely absurd to say we cannot be 100% certain.
He and others here have danced around a fact that needs to be made explicit. Certainty is a psychological ...
- 22.6k
1
vote
Is it possible to visualize higher dimensional space?
You can go a long way towards visualizing higher dimensions if you think about how you see in three dimensions.
The first thing to realize is that there is a sense in which you don't see in three ...
- 131
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible