The Philosophy of Actuality.
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Date
1963
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University of Fort Hare
Abstract
When we speak of actuality, we must clearly distinguish it from reality. The latter is, in the last instance, a metaphysical concept; for what we mean by it is in the world as it exists independently of our perception. This, however, is precisely what we do not know, and it is in this sense that the world or reality is transcendent. What we do know is the world as we see it, or rather, how we build it. To know the world means to arrange our chaotic surroundings so that they become meaningful and familiar to us. To know the world is therefore to build it, so that we can live in it. It then becomes our world, i.e., we are part of it, and it is part of us. We never know the world as it exists away from us, so that our actions do not really affect it, but we know it by building it. Hence, knowing is identical with becoming or acting.