Do we view the the world in perception or reality?

Question

Is what we see really what is happening or our translation of what is around us?

Answer 1

Our perception is our reality. Your reality is different from my reality, which is different from the next guy's, and the next girl's. It is impossible for two people to experience the exact same thing, so every experience is unique to the person.

When most people's realities are relatively congruent, they become the general reality.

So to directly answer both versions of the question: We view the world in perception. What we see is really happening... to us - and that's what matters to us.

That's the short answer, without delving into people with sensory problems or mental illness.

That's my $.02. Don't spend it all in one place.

Baron Von Lipwig

Answer 2

Both. "What is happening" outside us are called cognoscenti, "objects of perception." What is going on inside us with perception is called cognition. Perception can only "perceive" what our 5 senses discover about a particular cognoscentum; but the rest of the mind analyzes your perceptions, integrates them with other perceptions and with concepts you have already decided are rational, and in the end you have the subjective version--in your head--of the objective version that is outside you.

Answer 3

We see what's really happening, but we interpret it differently based on past experiences.

Answer 4

Your perception is your reality.

Answer 5

It is hard to deny "What IS". The world "IS" what it is. It is what is "thought" about the world that causes the problems. "What IS" is not changed at all by what we "think". What we "think" only causes changes inside ourselves...
Peace and Blessings...

Answer 6

We see what it really is.

But our judgment has the power of interpreting it.

Answer 7

Recent essay written by me on this topic.

Perception is entirely different from reality.

Reflections on Aristotle: Metaphysics
"The investigation of truth is in one way hard, in another easy. An indication of this is found in the fact that no one is able to attain the truth adequately, while on the other hand, we do not collectively fail, but everyone says something true about the nature of things, and while individually we contribute little or nothing to truth, by the union of all a considerable amount is amassed. - (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II)."

Aristotle believed in the eternal. As fire is the hottest of all things, so are eternal beings the most true. ". . . The principles of eternal things must be always most true (for they are not merely sometimes true, nor is there any cause of their being, but they themselves are the cause of the being of other things), so that as each thing is in respect of being, so is it in respect of truth (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II).” If these eternal forms are most true, and they give movement to more finite beings, then their truth must be passed on to the natural world they caused. It is unreasonable to think that the eternal with truth would deceive the caused by passing on untruth. "But evidently there is a first principle and the causes of things are neither an infinite series nor infinitely various in kind. (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II).” An infinite series of causes doubts the notion of eternity, because the infinite series is just one cause after the next (Doxa, Christian Thought in the 21st century). “ . . . Nothing infinite can exist; and if it could, at least the notion of infinity is not infinite (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II)." The first mover in the series has existed for eternity. If truth was given from the eternal, truth cannot exist in the infinite series. Since the truth and thus reality is from the eternal and absolute, it cannot be subjective. If these were subjective, then an infinite amount of truths and realities would exist. This is unreasonable. Therefore, absolute truth must exist.

According to Aristotle, "philosophy should be called knowledge of truth" (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II).” Reality is not subjective, nor is truth. How an individual perceives reality can be subjective, but there exists in the universe absolute reality and truth that all people desire, consciously or subconsciously. The truth is. If God is, then He is truth. If absolute truth exists, then so too must absolute justice and peace exist. Because if it is true that we desire truth and knowledge, so too must we desire absolute justice and peace, because both justice and peace require truth. Reality will be defined as what exists in the universe. Truth will be defined as the authenticity of nature and the universe and how an individual comes to predicate that authenticity. An individual seeking truth may fail several times. However, according to Aristotle "All men by nature desire to know (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book I).” If we desire to know, then we can say we desire to know the truth. For no person desires to perceive a falsehood as the truth, unless perversion has overcome him or her. After reflecting on Metaphysics, these are my beliefs.

Some persons claim reality can be subjective, that what an individual perceives as real is real. Reality, in this case, must have a different definition. Instead of what exists in the universe, reality must be what exists in a person's mind, because what that individual perceives as real is processed in their mind. So according to those who believe reality is subjective, a person under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs is experiencing reality. What is colored green to a sober person may appear purple or some other color to the user of the hallucinogen. It is somewhat absurd to agree that that which is green can, in reality be purple. It is true that a maple leaf is green in the summer time. Never will it be true that its color is purple. It has distinct chemical properties that make it reflect a certain shade of green towards our eyes. It absorbs all colors of the spectrum except green, which in turn our eyes see. A person's perception of reality can be different. For instance, a person who can only see black, white, and shades of gray, would probably see the leaf as a certain shade of gray. This is that person's perception of the leaf and in no way, reality. The reality is it is green.

Since the truth is the authenticity of nature and how an individual comes to predicate that authenticity, it is also true that the leaf is green. The leaf is green, because nature has given it those properties of which make it green. How the color-blind person comes to predicate his or her knowledge of the genuine nature of the leaf is through interaction and communication with other humans. The person's friend would tell them it is true that the leaf is green.

When morality comes into question, reality and truth become more vague. Can there ever be morality if reality and truth are subjective? The answer to that question is difficult, but essentially there cannot be definite knowledge of what is good and true, if it is entirely subjective. Some persons defend cannibalism to a certain degree, because its participants do not know that it is wrong to eat another human being. Is it ever okay to consume another human? These defenders are suggesting that it is okay to kill another human being let alone eat them, if no knowledge exists of the wrongfulness of the act. To eat your own kind defies nature, and thus is unnatural. This is the reality. The cannibals' perception of reality was distorted, because they did not know any better. However, this does not change the fact that eating another human being is morally impermissible. Anyone who disagrees should ponder what it is like to be killed and eaten by another person.

Aristotle and I believe that the difficulty in the attainment of truth lies in ourselves. Truth exists, but its vastness is so difficult to grasp. “Perhaps, too, as difficulties are of two kinds, the kinds, the cause of the present difficulty is not in the facts but in us. (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II).” It is in ourselves that truth is distorted. “For as the eyes of bat are to the blaze of day, so is the reason in our soul to the things which are by nature most evident of all. (Aristotle - Metaphysics, Book II).” How can truth exist outside of language? It is true my words and others’ words are defending my opinion, and that these are all words. But if language is going to be attacked as unreliable, then how can we even trust our thoughts? Our emotions? Anything? To consider language unreliable is foolish, as it is all we have to communicate ideas. If we cannot communicate ideas, in this case truths, then how else are we supposed to exchange thoughts at all? This is all an example of how our own reason directs us away from truth.

The eternal is truth in the highest degree and truth comes from it. We obtain it the best we can, but never completely as is evident. Reality is the essence of what is real, and thus true. The universe is reality. Nothing more. The finite mind that is inherent in us is too limited to conceive of the vastness of everything. We can only know absolute truth partially. After death, as Socrates hoped, we will be enlightened and fulfilled in the highest degree of what is real and true.

Works Cited
1. Aristotle. The Works of Aristotle. Chicago, London, Toronto, Geneva: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 1952.
1a. Metaphysics: Book I, II, III
1b. On the Soul
2. Louis P. Pojman Philosophy the Quest for Truth. Oxford, New York: Oxford
3. Roochnik, David. Retreiving the Ancients An Introduction to Greek Philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
4. “Against Infinite Causal Regress.” DOXA: Christian Thought in the 21st Century. 6 Nov. 2007