Appearance and Reality

Colin is developing this article.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the distinction between appearance and reality is, and always has been, one of principal the focal points of philosophy. The chief question raised by the distinction is epistemological: how can we know the nature of reality when all that we have immediate access to are appearances? Broadly speaking, responses to the question fall into one of three classes: those that argue that we are unavoidably 'cut off' from reality, those that argue that we do have some way of 'getting at' reality through the appearances, and those that reject the distinction. This article will consider some of the most historically influential examples of each type of response.

Skeptical Responses

Academic vs. Pyrrhonist skeptics

Descartes' First Meditation

Epistemically-Optimistic Responses

Descartes' later meditations.

Kantian idealism - a limited optimism

Responses that Reject the Distinction

Berkeley's idealism

Reid