Definition Essay - Defining Reality -- Expository Definition Essays

Definition Essay – Defining Reality The distinction that causes the most trouble in philosophy is the distinction between "appearance" and "reality," between what things seem to be and what they are. The painter wants to know what things seem to be, the practical man and the philosopher want to know what they are. . . . but if reality is not what appears, have we any means of knowing whether there is any reality at all? - Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy In everyday life people distinguish between the real size of the sun and the size it appears to be, between the natural components of a cloud (a concentration of water droplets) and what the cloud seems to be (some fleecy substance?), and so on. However, when arguing of the reality of such things, how can any phy...