Real

Is featured in our explanations of reality.

Abstract entities, emergent phenomena, and non-directly-detectable things are real if required for Explanation. Reality is not limited to what can be directly observed — it includes everything that plays an explanatory role.

Connections

• •Defined by explanatory role, not direct observability
• •Abstract entities are real when they feature in explanations
• •Emergent phenomena are genuinely real — contra Reductionism
• •The Physical World is one domain of reality but not the only one
• •Ontology determines what a theory posits as real
• •Refutes naive Empiricism — not everything real is directly sensed
• •Knowledge is real despite being abstract