Reality

Summary:

Plato's Cave and Einstein:

Philosophy of reality can also be considered the philosophy of truth and wisdom.

Plato would be considered an Idealist if he was alive today. An idealist is someone who is guided by ideas instead of practical consideration. Plato had a strong opinion on reality. He believed that reality was not found in the five senses. For example, hearing and seeing. Plato believed that you can't just believe in something. We must be able to justify our beliefs and have evidence supporting them.

The allegory of the cave is one of his most famous pieces of work. Here is a small summary of the story, Imagine a cave where there are prisoners and they can only see one direction. When they see the shadows behind them from the light they will eventually believe that is the only thing outside the cave. After a while the prisoners start guessing what they are going to see next and they start guessing correctly. Later one prisoner escapes and once he reaches the outside of the cave he realizes there is much more to life, and his view in the cave was not true reality. 

Concept of forms. 

This is the way I understood it after reading about it.  A form in Pluto's eyes was a blueprint. It was a template of something. If a person has a form they will be guided by it and do the right thing. For example a mental form of a good relationship is a blueprint or model of how you should try to make your own relationship. Albert Einstein's belief on reality was a lot more mathematical. He tried to prove why things exist by using math equations.(Everything in life can be narrowed down to math)

Metaphysics:

The topic of Reality in philosophy goes hand in hand with metaphysics, which many famous philosophers have discussed in their studies. Philosophers like Aristotle, Gottfried Leibniz, and William Bradley have tried to tackle the topic of reality, even though it is an incomplete study. A lot of their ideas lead to paradoxes and confusion. Here is some quotes from these philosophers that summaries their individual ideas:

· Aristotle, 340BC: “The first philosophy (Metaphysics) is universal and is exclusively concerned with primary substance. ... And here we will have the science to study that which is just as that which is, both in its essence and in the properties which, just as a thing that is, it has. ... That among entities there must be some cause which moves and combines things. ... There must then be a principle of such a kind that its substance is activity.”

· Leibniz, 1670: “Reality cannot be found except in One single source, because of the interconnection of all things with one another. ... I maintain also that substances, whether material or immaterial, cannot be conceived in their bare essence without any activity, activity being of the essence of substance in general.”

· Bradley, 1846-1924: “We may agree, perhaps, to understand by Metaphysics an attempt to know reality as against mere appearance, or the study of first principles or ultimate truths, or again the effort to comprehend the universe, not simply piecemeal or by fragments, but somehow as a whole.

Ontology:

Within the theories of reality in philosophy, a significant area of study is Ontology, or the study of being, existence, and becoming. Significant figures surrounding this field are Parmenides, Democritus, and Avicenna. All of these philosophers conducted study behind the various subjects enclosed in the concepts of reality, and inevitably, some had contradictory perspectives in which they dissented with the theories proposed by their counterparts over the course of philosophical history.

Parmenides formulated a theory known in philosophy as “The Void”. It is commonly known as the concept of nothingness manifested, and can be related to many realms in metaphysics and psychology. Nothingness is exhibited through the observation of emptiness, and humans’ collective endeavors to personify and distinguish it. As such, the concept of the Void, and ideas similar to it, have a significant and historically evolving presence in artistic and creative expression, as well as in academic, scientific, and philosophical debate surrounding the nature of the human condition. In this sense, knowledge or experience of the Void could be said to actually be unknowing, given its difficulty to describe with words. 

Democritus held a materialistic perspective of ontology when compared to Parmenides. He maintained a theory that all matter was composed of indivisible particles called atoms. Democritus’s argument for the existence of atoms hinged on the idea that it is impossible to keep dividing matter indefinitely, and that matter must logically be made up of tiny particles. He held the belief that atoms were too small for humans to detect, and there are infinite amounts of them. Moreover, Democritus said they float in a vacuum called the “void”. In his theory, atoms come in all different shapes and sizes, and that they are incessantly moving around each other in the void. 

Avicenna, who is oftentimes regarded as one of the most significant figures of the Islamic Golden Age, refers to being is either necessary, possible, or impossible. Necessary being one that can’t help but to exist. Possible is neither necessary nor impossible for one to be. It’s a neutral stance, and is brought from potentially existing into actual being only through external causes. He believed that being is borrowed. In regards to impossible, being does not necessarily exist, but the assertion of one’s being is a contradiction. 

Quiz Question: 

1.) Who was a significant figure during the Islamic Golden Age?

2.) What did Aristotle base the fundamentals of reality on?

3.) Was Plato an Idealist or Realist?

Discussion Question: 

1.) How can “The Void” be seen in every day life? 

2.) Do you think reality is more based on the human mind or laws like physics?

3.) Have you experienced a moment in life that can be compared to the message of Plato's Cave?