In philosophy, there are a huge number of very different currents and teachings. All of them are designated by certain terms. People often attribute themselves to one of the most common systems of world views, calling themselves either a pessimist, an optimist, or a realist. These terms reflect the worldview of an individual or a group. And if it is more or less clear with optimists and pessimists, then who is this realist?
Realism as a direction of philosophy
So who is a realist? First of all, it should be understood that such a philosophical term refers to a person who postulates the existence of reality independent of the subject. There is a popular saying that describes the essence of this term in comparison with the three main types of worldview given above. The one who sees the glass half empty is a pessimist. Anyone who sees a glass half full is an optimist. A realist is one to whom the contents of the glass are more important.
Three meanings of the term
Who is a realist? This is a follower of a certain philosophical trend - realism. There are three possible understandings of the latter:
- Realism is perceived as a direction, which in medieval philosophy was opposed to conceptualism and nominalism.
- This term refers to the direction of philosophical thought in the new time, which opposes idealism. This type of realism (epistemological) considers objective knowledge regardless of the ideas, beliefs and views of individual subjects, insisting on the idea that sensory experience can provide direct and direct access to understanding of the surrounding subject of the world.
- Modern philosophical views regard realism as the opposite of anti-realism.
Naive realism
Naive realism is a point of view that is shared by most people from a position of common sense. The basic idea is that modern science absolutely describes the world. Who is a naive realist? This is a person who perceives only those categories that are confirmed by scientific knowledge.
Scientific realism
This subtype postulates the thesis of the existence of a certain objective truth. All scientific theories have only one goal - the discovery of truth and scientific progress. Since the theories put forward by scientists are accepted as unconditionally true, it is believed that they are the ones that adequately describe reality.
Ontological realism
This subspecies believes that the reality described by scientific theories does not depend on theoretical assumptions and on the thinking of the subject. Ontological realism is trying to answer some questions: “What are real entities?”, “Does the world exist independently of the observer?”
Epistemological realism
This view assumes that some scientific theories that are validated as true are only approximate to the truth. Who is a realist with an epistemological point of view? Such a person in his worldview and worldview is trying to find the answer to the question: can there be objective true knowledge of reality and the world?
Semantic Realism
This kind of popular philosophical view suggests that theories are interpreted as realistic, since scientific theses point exclusively to real entities and describe reality. Who is semantic realist? This is a person who assumes that all scientific theories are trying to give a perfect and true description of reality, which exists independently of the object that perceives it. Truth for such a philosopher is the correspondence between reality and its linguistic description. In particular, this approach unites all three main types of worldview, whether it is a realist, a pessimist or an optimist. Only the final conclusion differs.