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Arewo Zhang
Mr.Fraanje
CCPE
December 24, 2024
How do my views regarding what is real shape your day-to-day lives?
The concept of reality has always been a crucial element in man’s relentless exploration of
the world. My understanding of reality and how it silently shapes my perceptions of everyday life
has shifted markedly through time and the accumulation of experience. Initially, I defined reality
as the material world within my reach and regarded the accumulation of wealth and career
fulfillment as the most important pursuits in life. However, as the years passed, I realized that
there was often an emptiness within me despite the external gains, prompting me to reflect on my
understanding of reality: is real existence confined to the material plane? Emotions, states of mind,
and interpersonal relationships became important to me, and I realized the value of these invisible
elements.
This paper analyzes in detail how my understanding of the sense of reality has profoundly
shaped the meaning of everyday life by reviewing my philosophical contemplative journey and
combining it with insightful metaphysical scholarship. Using my experience as a starting point, I
will introduce Immanuel Kant’s esoteric ideas to compare and consolidate my conception of
everyday reality, which ultimately guided the formation and development of my mode of living.
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For my earlier philosophical explorations, I viewed reality as objectively existing and
independent of the observer. Everything in my upbringing seemed to silently convey that only
things that can be perceived are real and reliable. I was convinced that the physical world was the
solid bedrock upon which reality was constructed; my mission was to reveal the principles of this
world through constant study and research and to find a place for myself.
The passage of time has finally made me realize the narrowness of my perception of reality.
I slowly realized that despite the material adequacy and external recognition, the emptiness and
dissatisfaction in my heart had not dissipated. I questioned: Is our so-called reality only on the
material level that can be touched by the eyes? Do the intangible dimensions of the mind, emotions
and social relationships really play an important part in life? With this question in mind, I began
to explore this invisible layer of meaning step by step. I discovered the truth: although these things
cannot be felt directly, they have a real impact on the quality of life and happiness.
In delving into the realm of metaphysics, I encountered the profound ideas of Immanuel
Kant. This reverberates and extends wonderfully and richly with the ideas I had at the time of my
initial exploration. Kant proposed that reality is a plural and relative being that transcends the
boundaries of the tangible world and includes symbolic realities composed of structures such as
consciousness, culture, and language. His insights into the nature of reality are exhaustively
presented in his work Critique of Pure Reason: we cannot probe the bottom of things (the thingautonomous), but can only grasp the external image of things (the phenomenon) constructed
through our perceptions and cognitions ( Immanuel Kant, 112). For example, in Western societies,
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“blue” is a specific hue identity; however, in some East Asian cultures, the same hue may be
classified as “green”. Such differences are not due to the colour itself, but to the visual and verbal
interpretations and articulations of it, which are essentially products of our sensory and thought
structures.
In keeping with my perception of the complexity of reality, the article on “Kant's
Metaphysics” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a further illustration: “The
multidimensional nature of reality requires us to re-examine the traditional materialistic view and
gain deeper insights into the ways in which consciousness, language, and social constructions are
constructed in the world. The multidimensional nature of reality requires us to reexamine the
traditional materialistic view and gain a deeper insight into the important role that consciousness,
language, and social constructions play in shaping reality. This perspective has facilitated my
understanding of the diversity and intricacies of the actual world, breaking with my previously
limited vision of the material.
Digging deeper, the Idealism chapter of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy mentions
that Idealists hold the view that reality does not exist independently of our perceptions, but rather
is a result of our conscious activity(Guyer, et al.). For example, the concept of “love” expresses
different ways of interpreting the world through the language we use every day; different cultures
and languages give “love” very different definitions and emotional connotations. Though
individuals have different emotional experiences, we often define and describe what “love means”
through a framework constructed by culture and language. “Reality is much more than the physical
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realm of what we perceive - it also encompasses the process of constructing and interpreting the
world in terms of what is spiritually embedded and communicatively available to us.
My understanding of reality was profoundly altered by my in-depth study of Kant’s
philosophical thought and extensive reading of various scholarly sources. I began to realize that
so-called “reality” is not a constant and single entity, but a dynamic process in which multiple
factors converge. This significant insight led to a change in my understanding of the value of inner
experience, emotional communication, and interpersonal interconnectedness, which led me to
value inner experience, emotional communication, and interpersonal relationships more highly,
and to stop reducing success to materialistic pursuits.
Kant’s assertion made me realize that our perception of reality directly influences our
habits and paths of choice. For example, when choosing a career, I am no longer limited to pursuing
external conditions such as financial income and social status, but rather I am more concerned
about whether the job will help me realize my self-worth, and whether I will be able to gain
satisfaction and happiness from my interactions with people at work. This view of reality has
allowed me to gradually experience the intangible fulfilment that comes from chasing a dream.
I have become more attentive to my emotional world, and as a result, I have begun to devote
more attention to it. I have learned to listen to the smallest voices in my heart to feel the changes
and fluctuations in my emotions, and to show my feelings and opinions openly. As they pay more
attention to their inner cultivation, they become more convinced of their own energy, resilience,
and pursuit of hope; at the same time, they learn how to deeply understand the thoughts and needs
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of others in interpersonal interactions, and readily accept the diversity brought about by these
differences.
After much personal introspection and academic exploration, I have made significant
changes in my conception of realism. Where once my views were more materialistic, I have now
developed a complex and pluralistic worldview; a change that has not only broadened my
philosophical horizons but has profoundly shaped my daily demeanour and decision-making in
life. After studying Kant’s profound theories and the important work of other scholars, I have been
able to grasp the meaning of the real world in a more complete and in-depth way, and have begun
to focus more on my own inner feelings and relationships. I believe that this insight will guide me
to pursue orientations and developments in my life that are both enriching and rewarding in the
future.
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Work Cited
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by Norman Kemp Smith, Macmillan, 1929.
Grier, Michelle. “Kant’s Critique of Metaphysics.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall
2022
Edition,
edited
by
Edward
N.
Zalta
and
Uri
Nodelman,
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2022/entries/kant-metaphysics/.
Guyer,
Paul
and
Rolf-Peter
Horstmann,
“Idealism”, The
Stanford
Encyclopedia
of
Philosophy (Spring 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), URL =
<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/idealism/>.