Reality vs Appearance: Bertrand Russel's Philosophical Perspective - Essay Sample

Introduction

Reality is the aggregate or sum of all aspects that are existent and real as opposed to that which is imaginary within a system. The term is used philosophically by Bertrand Russel to refer to the ontological status of a thing, thus indicating its existence. Reality involves all aspects in a system either known or unknown. On the other hand, appearance refers to how an individual or a thing looks like, such as facial expression, clothes, hair, or even posture and the skin tone.

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Russel believed that most people believe in many things on the basis of false assumptions. Bertrand Russel is a philosopher who appropriately made a distinction between appearance and reality by describing the difference between what things seem to be and what they are. Besides, Russel describes that appearance is what people gather, while the reality is something that people can never really know.

In the daily lives of individuals, there are instances where a mismatch occurs between reality and appearance. Russel differentiates appearance and reality using various aspects such as the characteristics of the terms as well as their definition. By definition, Russel states that reality is the state of things and individuals as they are while appearance is what an individual or something looks like.

In addition, Russel differentiates the two terms by focusing on their characteristics, such as the truth, state, and deception. He argues that appearance is temporary while the reality is permanent. Also, he outlines that appearance can be deceptive, but reality can never be deceptive. Moreover, Russel argues that reality is the truth, but for appearance, how something appears to be may not be the truth. Appearance is not always reality

“This Is Not a Table” Video

Russel would use the example of a table to distinguish between appearance and reality. While seated on a table, it would appear to be brown in colour. However, when he stood up and looked at the table on a different light, it would appear lighter than what would be considered to be brown. Moreover, when the lights would be turned off, the table would appear to be of a completely different colour from brown.

Therefore, depending on various factors and environments, the table would give a particular colour different from the one in a different circumstance. He, therefore, concluded that it was hard to really know if the table was really brown in colour. He likened that experience to life situations where he argued that it is challenging to know what is real since things appear to be different depending on certain circumstances.

In addition, Russel factored in the aspect of the texture of a table. He tried to explain that if a person rubbed his hand across a table, it would feel smooth and soft. However, when the table is looked at using a microscope, it would appear to be very rough and therefore making it challenging to be certain and making a conclusion on whether the table was rough or smooth. From his description of the colour and texture of a table, Russel came up with the conclusion that people had never seen the real table. He went ahead to explain that, just like people had never seen the real table, they also had not seen and lived the real life.

However, I do not agree with Russel's conclusion that we have never seen the real world just like we have never seen the real table. For instance, from a Christian religion point of view, God created the earth and other things in the world. The man was then made the ruler over all the things that God had created. According to the Christian belief, man is dominant over other creatures and rules them all.

Therefore, meaning that it is true that people are living real life from a religious point of view. However, I also agree with him to some extent because there are so many things in life that are deceiving. For instance, there are individuals who appear to be of good morals but instead commit serious crimes such as rape and murder thus alluding to Russel's perception that people and things are different from what they appear to look like.

Regarding Russel's question on whether there is any reality at all, I believe yes there is. For instance, science can be used as proof that reality exists. Aspects such as death, the growth and development of a baby as well as aspects such as the sun, rain and famine make me believe that reality does exist. However, not all things are a reality.

There are those that appear to be real but are deceiving. For instance, some things look good and bright under certain circumstances and change when subjected to other factors. Besides, religious beliefs on aspects such as death make me believe that there is reality. I determine reality for myself in various ways, such as through sight, texture, and smell. I use what I can see with my eyes to determine reality.

Existentialism

Existentialism outlines that an individual is considered to be existing by being free. Besides, the philosophy explains that every human being has unique freedom that they use to determine behavior. Therefore, the philosophy of existentialism provides an argument that individuals should be free while making their choices and actions.

Sisyphean endeavor is a term for a task that is ineffective and endless and was developed from a Greek myth. I believe that life is not a Sisyphean endeavor because life comes at an end once a person dies. Camus meant that life seems endless by referring to Sisyphus as a metaphor for human existence. The punishment given to Sisyphus seemed endless because he was to push a rock up a hill, a task that never came to an end.

Some of the common issues and themes that are reflected on the philosophy of existentialism include freedom of all people, the fact that life is absurd, anxiety, nothingness, alienation, as well as death and the fact that existence precedes essence. The philosophy outlines the aspects of an individual based on feelings and not the thinking subject.

Conclusion

Reality involves all aspects in a system either known or unknown. On the other hand, appearance refers to how an individual or a thing looks like, such as facial expression, clothes, hair, or even posture and the skin tone. Individuals always confuse between appearance and reality and are unable to distinguish between the two. However, people should use various aspects such as texture and sight to distinguish things that are real and those that aren't. Russel provides a good definition and distinction between reality and appearance using aspects such as their definition and truth. Russel uses the video "this is not a table" to distinguish between reality and appearance. Appearance explains what things look like, while reality outlines something that people can never know and understand. Existentialism outlines that an individual is considered to be existing by being free. Besides, the philosophy explains that every human being has unique freedom that they use to determine behaviour.