Dowling College PHL003

Notes on Bertrand Russell: Appearance and Reality

If everything is an illusion, then does it make any difference?

We can’t do anything about it. So it makes no practical difference.

Would it rob you of your motivation to do anything?

It might not make a difference to some people, but then it might to others.

The question of the ultimate nature of reality can make some difference to some people.

Some philosophers are pragmatists in the ordinary sense. Some are positivists.

A positivist says that if we can perform no experiment that would show a difference, then there is no real difference. They say it is just a matter of semantics.

If we just figures in other people’s dreams, then it follows that we have no control of our lives, and that could make a difference to people.

Russell addresses the question about our beliefs about ordinary things.

The issue is the reality of color. Are colors part of reality or merely subjective appearances?

Russell says that color disappears in the dark.

But we might disagree, and say that the color remains, even if we can’t see it.

So we say color is part of reality, even though the appearance changes.

Russell is saying color is subjective, not objective.

One of his arguments is that things look different colors in different lights, and none is the real color.

Russell wants to argue that all senses are subjective. Smell, touch, taste, color, sound.

Ordinarily, we tend to say that some appearances are fairly objective: we can be wrong about them.

There are real distinctions we make about appearance that make a difference to practical life.

On the other hand, it’s not clear that science can provide an objective account of what colors things really are.

Shapes: in a two dimensional field, tables do not look rectangular. But in a three dimensional field, normal tables do look rectangular.

Could shape itself be subjective?

Are there any objective properties of physical objects?

• Atomic composition
• Their reality
• Mass
• Number of atoms/molecules
• Size and relationship of sides – shape

Something is subjective if it varies from person to person and there is no way to determine which person is right

Something is objective if there is a definite right answer about it that does not vary from person to person.

Often there is a distinction made between primary and secondary qualities or properties

Primary qualities (shape, mass, atomic composition, chemical structure) are objective

Secondary qualities (color, smell, taste, feel) are subjective and vary from person to person.