...Truth and Reality: Are our versions mere mind-created, or real ? Can we ever distinguish actual reality from the synthetic models that mind create ? Or, can we ever know any reality other than what our minds create ? If we clinically analyse the total contents of our mind, we will find that it is a mix of many things that we consider as real, and equal number of things that we know as mere manufactured products of we,or that of the human community in general. What we naively consider as real are objects and relations that we have seen, heard, touched,tasted or smelt. We had learned this criterion of assessing reality from our primeval days when mind was not developed to perceive anything beyond what were just in-front the sense-organs. Animals are still in worlds of reality. Now, man's this category of reality also consists the various scientific facts,that we believe, our prestigious men of science must have either directly observed through their special instruments, or inferred over strong evidences they must have collected through their various false-proof methods. For example, the moon-rocks are real because NASA has its samples displayed at their facilities, or it is Sun there at the center of solar system, and earth and other planets are revolving around it. We believe that Science has adequate proof of these real physical facts. Though these scientific facts are quite different from the reality of a horse or a mountain that we actually see, we generally...
Words: 7540 - Pages: 31
...Truth vs. Reality Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, tells a story of children learning that the “truth” does not always correlate with “reality”. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, many themes are discernible. Among those themes is Truth vs. Reality. Within this novel, what is "true" is constantly shifting to bring forth a new "reality". Tom’s guilt, the relationship between Tom and Mayella, and Mayella’s relationship with her father all showcase Truth vs. Reality during Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom’s guilt appears to exist even before the trial begins. In truth, many find Tom to be guilty since he fits into the stereotypical black man persona of the time. Since Tom is a black man, there is no need for actual proof that he did anything (271). This shows that those involved did not think that medical evidence is necessary in this particular case. Yet, in reality, the...
Words: 729 - Pages: 3
...Truth versus reality is a common mistake in society. When applied in everyday life the two words are often placed improperly. When this mistake is compared to the trial held in To Kill A Mockingbird, the reader finds this to be an archetype of the common misunderstanding. In To Kill A Mockingbird, a trial is held to find the verdict of Mayella’s case, Mayella lacks family support and a social life, and Tom Robinson is found guilty as Mayella’s raper. The verdict is true to the jury, but in reality Tom Robinson is an innocent man. A trial is held to find the person who took advantage of Mayella and caused her injuries. Both sides of the story completely contradict each other, but both sound truthful. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, makes his confession which essentially states that he found Tom Robinson beating on Mayella when he arrived at his home. On the other hand Atticus, Toms defense attorney, states that Tom was requested to do a chore for her and ended up being kissed by her. Atticus also adds that when...
Words: 732 - Pages: 3
...“Truth, that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.” As seen here truth is easily defined in eleven words, but when faced with the task to do so as an individual, it proves to be quite daunting. To try to whittle down such a meaningful word to just eleven words to describe it seems ambiguous and takes away from the reality and just puts it into facts, stating itself, the truth. Understanding how truth plays a large role in war and compares to it, brings a larger perception of war to my mind and how truths can sway from one side to the other. Recognizing that truths can be viewed from different aspects makes me more apt to understanding the meaning of war. So how is truth defined? Of course, there’s always the simplified dictionary meaning, and then there is the more in depth one that I have deduced from readings of texts like All Quiet on the Western Front and a chapter excerpt from The Things They Carried gives much more insight into the reality of war and the effects of being told the truth, and telling it. One idea I have taken from both those documents is that truth can be defined as a statement about the way the world actually is, but the way it actually is can only be defined by more truths that...
Words: 1706 - Pages: 7
...anti-realism violate the reality principle in denying the existence of a verification independent 'target for our thoughts to aim at'? On the Realists view, there is a mind-independed world about which we form beliefs, and truth is the correspondence between a statement or belief and the mind-independed world the statement or belief is about. Central in the Realists conception is that its obtaining is independed of our ways of finding out about it. That is, that truth transcends our ability to know the truth. For the Realist, if reality did not contain answers to our questions, then there would be no ‘target for our thoughts to aim at’ and ‘truth’ or ‘falsity’ would cease to matter. Opposed to Realism is the Anti-Realists view that ‘reality’ is constituted in part by our conceptual activities or the conceptual tools we employ in our inquiry. The anti-realist seeks a notion of truth that can be constructed out of verification. For anti-realism truth is to be analyzed in terms of concepts like evidence or scientific inquiry. For a statement to be true is to be capable of being verified or asserted. Reality for the Anti-Realist is defined as the totality of these ‘actual truths’. The Anti-realist identifies truth with verification. He argues that when we are making any assertions, the actual standard these assertions have to pass, is the best interpretation of the best available evidence. So the Anti-realist asks ‘what use does a truth that transcends verification...
Words: 1056 - Pages: 5
...undue dependence on others we must have a platform of absolute truth, something unshakeable that provides a foundation when all things whirl and conspire about us. In our university careers, and later on in our professions, we find so many people who would counsel us to take this path or another path; and often that counsel is at variance with teachings we have learned in the Church. Theories of science are proposed that seem at variance with gospel principles. How, then, can we find for sure that which is true? I have found in my life two ways to find truth— both useful, provided we follow the path and the laws upon which they are predicated. First let us call the scientific method. That involves a group of facts and statistics, combined and analyzed, from which is distilled a theory or a postulate or what might be called a principle. Often the reverse is true: we advance a principle, then perform experiments to establish its validity. The scientific method is a sound and most valuable way of arriving at truth. There are two limitations, however, with that method. First: We never can be sure we have absolute truth, though we often draw nearer and nearer to it. Secondly: Sometimes, no matter how earnestly and sincerely we apply that principle, we come up with the wrong answer. The scientific method is a way of seeking and drawing near to truth, but not a method that actually reaches truth. The steps of the Scientific Method are as follow problem/question...
Words: 2299 - Pages: 10
...Heidegger emphasizes knowing reality means knowing being. The view of each philosopher as well as arguments and counterarguments with respective examples are examined. In order to understand objectivity, Husserl asserts that the answer is found in perception and consciousness. Through investigation of our mind we can know reality. In order to understand reality one must understand phenomenology and phenomenological reduction. Phenomenology is a category of Contemporary Continental Philosophy that rejects the practical Kantian notion that the thing itself cannot be known. Husserl, unlike Kant, believes that the phenomena do reveal things themselves. He believes that by going “back to things themselves,” one can grasp an aspect of a thing’s true essence, and accordingly objective reality. Phenomenology embraces realism, which is the revelation of the existence of an objective reality outside or apart of one’s mind. In principle, Husserl supposes that the world is objectively real and that it is not a creation or illusion in one’s own mind. Thus, Husserl argues that things can be known through the phenomena; the manifestation of things themselves. To counter this argument, Kant may suggest that you cannot know things themselves, and we have no empirical access to objectivity. He would say one can know the world of appearance by accessing it through one’s senses. However, we have no way of getting into contact with reality because our consciousness distorts reality. For example, Husserl...
Words: 4331 - Pages: 18
...Johnson John Dillon Irish Ghost Stories February 18, 2013 Pacing at Wildgoose Lodge Truth is stranger than fiction. Exaggerated truth is even stranger. William Carleton’s literary description of the murders at Wildgoose lodge serve to tell a factual story whilst embellishing the details in order to captivate his audience. Although Carleton’s account isn’t perfectly in line with Terence Dooley’s more historically accurate writing of the incident, the former still paints an adequate picture of what happened one night in eastern Ireland, and it is still regarded by many as the best source for what happened. But why? Why would factual truth be less favorable than an embellished one? David Shield’s Reality Hungers offers a glimpse at that answer by providing a different take on what is “real”. Through Shield’s work we can discover why an exaggerated account can be considered more realistic than a historically factual one. Defining reality is at the core of arguing for the legitimacy of Carelton’s story as a description of what happened at Wildgoose Lodge. In my opinion, reality, defined, means plausible human actions and sentiments that are based on fact, which elicits an appropriate emotion from viewers. This view on reality is reflected in the artistically focused Reality Hunger, where author David Shields explores what can be considered real in contemporary literature. This take on reality can be better explained through a brief example conducted by surveying present surroundings...
Words: 1286 - Pages: 6
...Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a tale of truth and reality versus ignorance. It is an analyzation of human perception and can be applied to modern life. Allegory of the Cave also presents the difference of being closed minded versus being open minded. It shows the advantages gained to those who are open minded. It also presents the disadvantages and how ignorant one sounds when one is closed minded. Plato's Allegory of the Cave takes place in a dark cave. There are prisoners in shackles with something in place to keep their heads from turning. They are basically forced to only look in one direction. Behind the prisoners there is a fire and a runway where showmen can place items such as vases. The fire casts shadows on the walls the prisoners are facing and they play a game. They begin to guess what the shadows are and those who get the most right are considered to be the smartest people of the group. These prisoners know nothing but what is casted in front of them. To these prisoners, they are not shadows of objects but real objects themselves as they have no reality. Out of the group, one prisoner is freed and allowed to venture. He begins to look at the fire, the statues, and treys to comprehend everything. After direct sunlight to his eyes he is pained and confused. In that moment, being released might have seemed like the worst thing possible to that prisoner. Being utterly confused is frustrating and the pain of turning his head and staring at direct sunlight is a...
Words: 1522 - Pages: 7
...Faith That Makes Sense by Dennis McCallum (Tyndale). | |REALITY |MAN |TRUTH |VALUES | |Naturalism |The material universe |Man is the chance |Truth is usually |No objective values or | |Atheism; |is all that exists. |product of a |understood as |morals exist. Morals are | |Agnosticism; |Reality is |biological process |scientific proof. |individual preferences or | |Existentialism |"one-dimensional." |of evolution. Man is|Only that which can |socially useful behaviors.| | |There is no such thing |entirely material. |be observed with the|Even social morals are | | |as a soul or a spirit. |The human species |five senses is |subject to evolution and | | |Everything can be |will one day pass |accepted as real or |change. | | |explained on the basis |out of existence. |true. | | | |of natural law. | | | | |Pantheism |Only the spiritual |Man is one with |Truth is an |Because ultimate reality |...
Words: 663 - Pages: 3
...Literature – Henrik Ibsen Abstract: In this essay, Ibsen’s plays, The Wild Duck, and Ghosts are considered in relation to themes of illusions and realities. In both plays, families are held together by illusions, yet torn apart by truths that have been concealed to protect the children. Ibsen’s use of artistic realism is an ironic art form where illusions and realisms are contradicted to reveal the deeper conflicts of ordinary lives. Ibsen presents the complicated realities of ordinary lives and emphasizes the fact that there are always many realities -- just as there are many illusions. Title: Illusions and Realities in Ibsen’s Plays The Wild Duck and Ghosts Introduction In Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, illusions and reality are set into a conflict within the story of a son’s personal desire to confront idealism. Throughout much of the play, the son, Greger, argues the value of truth with the reluctant Dr. Relling. Relling insists on the importance of illusions, but fails to discourage Greger’s intentions and a play that begins as a comedy quickly turns into a tragedy because of these conflicts. At the heart of the illusions in this play are the ways that people assume many roles in a family, impersonating multiple ideals as ways for managing their relationships. This theme of impersonation is also developed in Ibsen’s Ghosts, where family relations are slowly undone as the illusions and deceptions are stripped away. In both plays, deceptions are strategic...
Words: 922 - Pages: 4
...examples Literature – Henrik Ibsen Abstract: In this essay, Ibsen’s plays, The Wild Duck, and Ghosts are considered in relation to themes of illusions and realities. In both plays, families are held together by illusions, yet torn apart by truths that have been concealed to protect the children. Ibsen’s use of artistic realism is an ironic art form where illusions and realisms are contradicted to reveal the deeper conflicts of ordinary lives. Ibsen presents the complicated realities of ordinary lives and emphasizes the fact that there are always many realities -- just as there are many illusions. Title: Illusions and Realities in Ibsen’s Plays The Wild Duck and Ghosts Introduction In Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, illusions and reality are set into a conflict within the story of a son’s personal desire to confront idealism. Throughout much of the play, the son, Greger, argues the value of truth with the reluctant Dr. Relling. Relling insists on the importance of illusions, but fails to discourage Greger’s intentions and a play that begins as a comedy quickly turns into a tragedy because of these conflicts. At the heart of the illusions in this play are the ways that people assume many roles in a family, impersonating multiple ideals as ways for managing their relationships. This theme of impersonation is also developed in Ibsen’s Ghosts, where family relations are slowly undone as the illusions and deceptions are stripped away. In both plays, deceptions are...
Words: 923 - Pages: 4
...Reality The similarities found between the three readings include claims that reality is not completely proofed by what our physical senses tell us. All of these perspectives view day to day living as a normal person would see it as bondage. For The Matrix, it was the Machines that were oppressing humans, for the prisoner it was the chains that kept him bound to the wall only able to see shadows, and for Descartes it was the constant struggle with his own opinions and ideas which left him with the option to only doubt everything. In both The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Neo and the prisoner were handed the opportunity to see past their false sense of reality. Before this, they were living in a reality that they believed was real. Neo was living a regular life like everyone else, but a part of him felt like something was not right. Morpheus confronted Neo and gave him the option between two pills. In The Allegory of the Cave, the prisoner believed the shadows to be reality until forces outside his control released him to explore the real world. As observed in both stories they were motivated by outside factors which initiated them coming to terms with reality. For Descartes, he initiated his own doubt of what his senses were telling him about reality. Descartes and Plato both question reality, but never find a solution to the truth, while The Matrix creates a fictitious story in which reality is questioned and truth is found. In association with Socrates implying...
Words: 798 - Pages: 4
...Fantasy vs. Reality In the allegory of the cave, Plato describes the human perception of fantasy and reality. The story is about these prisoners who have lived in the darkness of an underground den since childhood. They are chained so that they cannot see themselves or the real world above them; all they can see are shadows on the wall in front of them. Somehow, a prisoner escapes the underground den and heads towards the light. At first, the light blinds him and he is unable to see anything due to the fact that he has lived his whole life in darkness and knows nothing but that. Once he is able to see, he is shocked by the world he has now been exposed to but will soon become accustomed to it. This story compares the reality the prisoner faced once he stepped into a new world, to the knowledge we gain once we are introduced to a new perspective of reality. Plato explains that once the prisoners are liberated they are “compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him…” (2). This implies that when humans face reality, they will experience pain and suffering. Do all humans experience agony when facing reality? Why is it that humans have to go through misery in order to come to a new realization? Plato also explains that if a human was dragged up from the underground den into the light he “would not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities” (2). This...
Words: 588 - Pages: 3
...of authority—the concept of subjective truth is preferable to the narrow framework of objective morality. Rather than seeking absolute truth, information that accurately corresponds with reality, many are content reducing the essence of truth to a matter of personal preference. Unfortunately, this dangerous and deceptive philosophy has crept into every facet of the human experience in America, and the spirit of relativism has even infiltrated the Christian Church, an institution founded upon the doctrine of absolute truth and objective morality. This essay will explore the fundamental principles of relativism/subjectivism, showing the philosophy to be logically inconsistent, while demonstrating its incompatibility with Christianity. A Definition of Terms Before conducting a systematic analysis of relativism, a distinction between...
Words: 689 - Pages: 3
