objective and formal reality

WokSz

I fail to understand these two concepts. Can anyone please prevent me from killing myself? thank you so much! :smile:

Reply 1

-G-a-v-

Objective reality is what IDEAS have. This is just the name descartes gives to it, its usually known now as REPRESENTATIONAL CONTENT. Your idea of something is a REPRESENTATION of it in the same way that a picture of that thing would be a representation. A bit like a mental picture :smile:

It doesn't really matter whether the thing itself actually exists or not. Like the idea of God doesnt really rely on whether or not God exists.

Formal reality comes closer to what we usually think of as reality. Everything that exists has this kind of reality. Ideas also have formal reality as well as objective reality. An apple, for example, has formal reality, but does not have objective reality (representational reality) because the apple isnt an idea of anything and doesnt represent anything.

So ideas have formal reality and objective reality.
Things that are not ideas just have formal reality.

Reply 2

WokSz

ok, so let me get this straight.

objective reality is when we have a picture of it in our head, but it doesn't necessarily means it exists. For example, a unicorn.

Formal reality is when something actually exists. Therefore, if an apple has formal reality, this means it has the existence characteristic?

Thanks you :smile:

Reply 3

-G-a-v-

You're welcome :smile:

Nice summary you've made there :biggrin:

Reply 4

void

So then would an idea of an apple have both formal and objective reality? Or just objective reality?

Reply 5

Grosseteste

void

So then would an idea of an apple have both formal and objective reality? Or just objective reality?

Both; it has the formal reality that any idea has (as a modification of mental substance), and a degree of objective reality equivalent to the formal reality of an apple.

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