Metaphysics: Definition, Problems - Assignment Example

Introduction Reality is the or quality of being true or actual. Reality comes with experience and aspects of visual state. For something to be proved real, it must be subjected to a test. The tests can be physical, in the form of measurement or visual tests for example, looking at something to tell its color. Something that appears to be real may not be real. This is why it is important to subject every aspect of reality into tests. When we describe variables, physical objects, ideas or even relationships say; X is taller than Y or individual W is older than individual X. These things are real and anyone can vividly attest to that fact. There are however a lot of miseries that still remains uncovered, or things that can not be measured to ascertain their reality. One cannot come up with a conclusive answer as to their reality existence. This is why theories have been developed to answer these rhetorical questions. Reality Theories There are different theories that tend to describe and give meaning to the word reality. To exhaustively discuss reality, we must have an in-depth understanding of these theories and how relevant they are to our lives. These reality theories are; Reality 1; this is the summation of all things that are real. In this theory, reality is what is experienced as they are not as they are imagined or illusion. Reality 1 holds that, everything that exists in singular totality like the universe is real. Talking about the universe, one would obviously know that it is the summation of the planets, stars, space and everything else that constitutes this. This meaning does not cover reality exhaustively and thus the need for another reality theory which is reality 2. Reality 2 is what someone experiences out of reality 1. Every person has what he thinks or he experiences as a result of the totality of what is real. Since not even twins can have the same experience, thus reality according to this theory, is what everyone knows or believes in. it means that there are multiple realities since every person will experience something different from his friend. It is thus possible that reality in this case is divided and different among different classes of people like the poor and the rich, men and women, children and adults. Every group has its own reality. Multiple Realities is thus what a person thinks; it is thus brought about by one’s consciousness. The sole thought of individuals. This is what has generated the world’s illusion on history, sport, art, wars, pleasure and the like. Reality is brought about by the conscious mind of an individual and what he or she strongly believes in. Monism theory; this is a reality theory which talks against pluralistic or dualistic view of reality. Monism holds that, there has to be unity in any field of analysis, for example, the existence of God. Monism holds that there is one supreme God but he manifests himself in many ways according to different religions.  Reality according to this theory holds that for anything to be real, it must consist of an amalgamated whole thus everything that exists can be attributed or illustrated using a single model. From Monism theory it can also be concluded that there is one earth but according to different people, many have diverse understanding of what it is or what it looks like. Likewise, the matter and the mind are formed or emerge from same principle or substance. Monism is further categorized into; idealism, mentalistic monism and phenomenalism. Dualism; it holds that reality is constituted by an unchanging whole. Change for this case is considered as just a mere illusion. Dualism does not give room for any change, reality is thus unchanging and it remains to be unified as one. Reality is thus specific, there can not exists two realities at a go, something is either real or not real. Idealism; this is an epistemological theory which holds that reality is attested when the datum or an object of realization are identical. Reality is thus what is perceived to be true and what somebody’s conscience convinces him of. Here there is only a single basic principle or substance that exists which can form the ground for reality. Pragmatism; it holds that reality consists through its realistic consequences or applicability. Reality thus does not exist in correspondence to the facts or specifics but in abundance articulated with experience. Pragmatism stresses practical values and consequences as standards through which validity or reality of concepts can be determined. Materialism; it holds that, only physical matter can act as the reliable evidence of reality. Everything including, feeling, thought, will or even mind can be proven or explained in terms of substance or it s physical component. Materialism looks more on the physical existence of an object or any existence for it to be considered real. Therefore, all occurrences are believed to surround material agencies. According to this theory, matter and any observable fact is the only reality. Materialism thus rejects strongly the existence of spiritual values or any intellectual values. Such things are not considered to be real. Critical Thinking-The Theory of Reality and Multiple Realities It is clear from the above theories that at some time, they all attest to the fact that there are some existence and that those existences are real. From these believes people can draw a line between what is a fact and what is just a mere speculation or an illusion. Therefore, the question remains, can there be multiple realities? Can something be true while at the same time a false? From these scenarios, we are able to scrutinize multiple realities. To understand this, we will consider an example of an experiment given to the students where the student is supposed to make the qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis will only involve strictly measurable variables and thus will only presuppose single reality which is dependent on individual’s experiences. Qualitative approve however, asserts that, not only one reality 1 can be used but also multiple realities to arrive at the truth. Looking beyond only what we can see can also assist in determining whether something is real or not. This shows that every individual has his own views which can be ignored or missed if one strictly adheres to the quantitative approach. Therefore, multiple reality  is not singular and anything that appears to be real must undergo a second and thorough test before it is proven. What makes Something Real The theory that makes most sense is the multiple realities theory. This is because it gives the wider view of realities and how something that appears real when looked from a different angle may turn out to be just an illusion. There may be multiple realities which in one case, are merely mistaken. This would mean that, what is real may be made to appear unreal because of lack of serious scrutiny. Multiple realities hold that, before something is confirmed to be real, there must be various dimensional analyses to ascertain the decision. It is thus wrong to look at only one aspect and judge by it. What makes something real is the past of tests subjected to it. Reality 2 has both qualitative and quantitative analysis which assists to determine the reality in any scenario. Where there is relativism, that is, a belief in multiple truths, what will solve the situation is the multiple realities.  For example, when we want to determine a person’s reality, we will not only look at the person’s appearance and judge whether he is a Russian or an American, we must trickle down to the person’s language, culture, clan, country and so on. It should thus be noted that, there only exists one reality but we should have different access to this reality. It has been proven that what appears right, including proven scientific research may be far from reality. The only way that remains to know whether something is real is thus the test or multiple perspective scrutiny of an issue. This is the only surest way to judge reality. My Views on Simultaneous Multiple Realities In our daily life, we have come across simultaneous multiple realities. Some are contradicting while others are concurrent. What brings about contradictions in multiple realities is the uncertainty in question. When someone is not sure about an issue, he may have divided mind as to whether the issue is true or wrong. There can be simultaneous multiple realities where different individuals stand for different thought, and are thus unable to come into an agreement as to the reality. The theory of simultaneous multiple realities makes sense since, there is no particular time that people will think the same. In any given scenario, there must be differences in opinions. Take for example, everyone knows that the earth exists; however, different people still will differ as to its shape. Some will argue that it is spherical; others will say that it does not have a definite shape while others will say it is cubical. All the factors taken into consideration, we must all attest to the fact that the earth exists and that it does have some shape. We may be wrong in our opinions about its shape but the fact remains that, one of us is right while the other is wrong. This clearly shows simultaneous multiple realities in practice, both the earth’s shape and its existence is a reality which must take place together. It is evident that everyone lives in his different world of thought. It is true that one person’s belief may not agree with another person’s believe, this is why what one person thinks is real may not be according to a different person. It is not always that people will believe their friend’s viewpoint. What remains a mystery is how the minds interact. It appears as if there is some sort of inter-universe communication. It is not unique to find out that different people are thinking about the same thing at a particular time. Although their mental picture may be different, it is clear that there are some connections in their thinking. This again proves the theory behind simultaneous multiple realities. It shows that no matter how divided our opinions are, at some point we may be made to believe in a reality without earlier encounter. Different people can believe in the same thing which turns out to be real. Having different believes does not mean that there exists two different realities. The reality is one but how different people conceptualize it is what makes the difference. Using the example about the earth’s shape, it does not mean that when society A says that the earth is Flat and society B believes that it is spherical, will mean that it has both shapes. The fact remains that the earth has only one definite shape. One society may be wrong and the other one right. These divisions of opinions help us to analyze, criticize and evaluate events keenly to arrive at the reality. In this case, it is not possible to have more than one reality simultaneously. According to independent theory, each group will stand by what they believe in and trying to change their beliefs will only have negligible effects. It all turns out that someone will do what he purposed to do or have the same opinion he had after a thorough explanation. It is possible that each person is entitled to their own reality however this condition may be changed if the individual is made aware of the facts that outwit his belief. This can be done through educating the person and later he comes to appreciate the facts the way they are not the way he thought they ought to have been. In situations of conflict of interests, what need to be done is to test the facts, by for example giving out the possible advantages and disadvantages of the presented facts, and ensure both parties choose for themselves which of the views represent reality. Someone who says the earth is Flat should be given time to explain why he thinks so. The one that thinks the earth is spherical should also be given time to explain his thoughts, after this, there should be a thorough scrutiny and analysis before settling on the reality. Through this, a conclusion will be achieved, which is the reality or the most probable reality. Conclusion In summary, it is very rare to have more than one entire reality (define). This is because of the differences in thoughts, one person can not have the sum of all that is real, everyone is prone to errors based on his or her analytical skills and this explains why no one is a perfectionist. People can also have a single reality that they have different views on such as the existence of the nine planets. Well it is a reality that the planets exist, but some people still differ as to the number of planets in place. This is a conflict of reality. In conclusion, there only exists one reality despite the different views that people may have, the number of views does not determine the number of realities. Work Cited Pecorino, Philip, A.” An Introduction to Philosophy.” Chapter 4: Metaphysics. Qcc.Cuny.Edu, 2000. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/SocialSciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%204 %20Metaphysics/OVERVIEW.htm Read More