Re my statement: “Yet today, we are faced with the tragic effects of certain medically prescribed drugs which actually damaged the health of persons who used them...”
Both of those are "realities" as we know them. Which one is correct?”
They are both correct if you are referring to the same grass. If you say “The grass is green”, then it follows, if you are speaking about the same grass, “The grass is not red”.
By Law 2, the law of contradiction, A is not non-A where A is green and red is non-A In other words, green is not red.
There is no contradiction.
Also, by Law 1, the law of Identity, A is A, if A is green, then it must be green. It cannot be any other colour, say red,for example.
Aristotelian Logic Since Aristotle, the Western world has followed the logical principles of Aristotelian philosophy. This logic is based on the following three laws:
1) Law of Identity A is A
2) Law of Contradiction A is not non-A
3) Law of the Excluded Middle A cannot be A and non-A
"Much of what went wrong was my fault, but how much of it that wasn’t is impossible to say."
"I don’t want to live with someone as half of a couple again; I do know that much, or at least I think I know it."
"Molly, I know a lot of what I don't want, but, as with most areas of my life, I don't know what I do want. Woe is me."
"I'm not looking, Lindsy, I'm just wondering if I should be."
Harbal
In one of my blogs, I mentioned that I view you as a very straightforward person. I wish to repeat that and to add that I admire your straightforwardness and self-honesty.
“Yes Socrates I remember reading about measurement being taken when someone died just to see if soul weighed anything.” Very interesting! What was the outcome of the measurement? Hope you made that point in Harbal's blog about whether or not we have a soul.
The natural sciences are normally viewed as being an exact study of what is real, or reality, as much as possible. Measurement is a part of such a study.
“Reality involves things we feel but cannot see...” I take it that in your reference to feeling, you focus is on a direct insight or intuition, and certainly not human emotion in the typical sense.
“...and things we see that are not real.” Is this like looking at an image of yourself in the mirror? Can we say that the image is not real? Science can explain how it comes about.
“Since they are measuring reality that one cannot see with just their eyes, i cannot help but think we cannot see what is real.” To my knowledge, Science attempts to measure both things that we cannot see with our eyes, through the use of specialised instruments which can detect such things, and also things that we can see with our eyes.
To some, the natural sciences are said to deal with what is real, i.e., reality. In this part, Part 2, this claim is examined. The focus is on measurement and reality in the natural sciences – physics, etc., which deal with the physical world.
Re the comment by viking which I view as a direct insight into reality and Marlindap's reference to the heart and her saying sometimes how we feel is our reality, I wish to quote Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician/philosopher:
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of... We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart." - Blaise Pascal
Quite frankly, I do not think anyone knows precisely what reality and truth are. This blog is questioning what reality is. The same will apply to a blog entitled "What is Truth?" I think it will generate some very interesting comments.
You seem to be a very straightforward person and should make a good OP for the blog.
"How and when would we know that our reality IS the truth?"
I asked the question in response to Marlindap's comment: "I have said before that what we know is ever changing thus our reality is always changing , our reality is rarely the truth."
Excellent Idea!
I wish to suggest that you should do such a blog since you raised the matter.
The general consensus is that each individual has his/her own unique reality based on his/her personal experiences. This is in keeping with the statement by W.I.Thomas: "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences."
Apart from each individual's personal reality, which may be considered subjective,some may claim the existence of an objective reality. Exploration of this objective reality is said to be the domain of Science.
I must admit when I asked the question, the focus was on this so called "objective reality" of Science, which will be further examined in the subsequent parts.
I am glad that you mentioned Science and it supposed connection to a universal reality. This will be explored further in the subsequent parts. Thanks for your comprehensive view.
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What is Reality? – Part3 (Logic and Physical Sense Experience)
Re my statement:“Yet today, we are faced with the tragic effects of certain medically prescribed drugs which actually damaged the health of persons who used them...”
Some of you may recall the “thalidomide tragedy”: