By Samuel Gugliotta
For Variety

“WELL,” says the philosopher, “I don’t know how to begin.” (Thus he begins with a false statement.) Not only that,” continues the philosopher, “if the statement, ‘I speak only in falsehoods,’ is true, then I run smack into the paradox of self-reference.”
His friend replies: “Don’t be silly, there are certainly some things you may be speak that have the ring of obvious truth.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I think you will agree with me that you are presently alive and exist; that you are right here and now, located at certain spatial and temporal coordinates. In other words that you are somebody, somewhere, at some time. You can’t deny that. In fact your denial would only be an existing fact that would confirm what I’m saying.”
“Oh of course I agree with you, on the surface that is. I mean that what you are saying in one sense in quite trivial and not very interesting. On the other hand, if you begin to reflect on some of the concepts you employed in your assertions, it would quickly lead us to depths where the “simple” truth begins to fragment into doubtful probabilities and incomprehensible complexities.”
“Explain that please.”
“Well, consider just two words you used: ‘you’ and ‘exist.’ These words exist in a logical space of discourse. For example, ‘you’ is related to ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘self,’ etc.; while, ‘exist’ is connected to ‘actuality,’ ‘being,’ ‘reality,’ and so on. So of course, you, me, and everyone alive exists. Yet such simple expressions conceal more than they reveal.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well for the sake of brevity, lets limit our considerations to the relationships between ‘reality’ and ‘existence.’ Do these words have the same meaning? Can there be realities which don’t exist (such as mathematical or abstract or ideal entities)? Can there be existents which have no reality?”
“I think whatever exists is also real.”
“Good answer. But there are some important differences. Lets take a look at Robert Nozick’s fine book, ‘The Examined Life.” Chapter 12 of his text is entitled, ‘Being More Real.’ He says the following: ‘At some times a person feels more real to himself or herself. Stop, now, to ask, and answer, this question: When do you feel most real?’
“Nozick goes on to give his thought about the question: ‘People often say they feel most real when they are working with intense concentration and focus, with skills and capacities brought into play; they feel most real when they feel most creative. Some say during sexual excitement, some say when they are alert and learning new things.’”
“So it seem that for Nozick, the notion of reality admits of degrees of height and depth.”
“Yes, you are right. Existence is reality at its lowest level, while reality may rise or fall, bringing the self to higher grades of being; and this of course leads us to consider the nature of this changing self.”
“Yes, what conception of ‘self’ is behind this?”
“Well, here is Nozick’s answer:
‘I want to say that you are your reality. Our identity consists of those features, aspects, and activities that don’t just exist but also are (more) real. The greater the reality a feature has, the more weight it has in our identity. Our reality consists partly in the values we pursue and live by, the vividness, intensity, and integration with which we embody them...In saying that we are constituted by our reality, I mean the substance of the self is the reality it manages to achieve.’”
“This sounds good, but it raises many questions. I sense that the ‘self’ we are is always changing, and that ‘reality’ — the self’s reality is a variable something.”
“Yes, you are certainly right. There is much more to be said, and much more is said in the book. For example, Nozick commends that we should seek a life that enables us to always seek ways of being more real. Some the ‘most real’ people he uses as examples are Socrates, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Ghandhi. Nozick’s theory also rules out infamous people, like Hitler, etc., who have created evil rather than beauty or goodness. He notes, ‘The very greatest things people have prized involve both height and depth to a considerable extent: meditative ecstasy, religious experience, sublime music, overwhelming love.’ So this theory of reality also involves a theory of value. And that is another story we need to discuss.
“Yes, we are not finished.”
“So we stop for now. Not only did we begin in a falsehood but also end in one. Yet in between who is say whether or not we have glimpsed some aspects of the (not so) simple truth.”
Puzzles
1. John and Mary have the same amount of money. How much must John give Mary so that she will have exactly ten dollars more than John?
2. At the Atlantic Island Conference, there were 100 politicians. Each politician was either crooked or honest. You are told the following: (1) At least one of the politicians was honest; (2) Given any two politicians, at least one of the two was cooked. Based on these statements, how many of the politicians were honest, and how many were crooked?
3. At the Senate, there were Republicans and Democrats. One day a Democrat decided to become a Republican, and then there were the same number in each party. But a few weeks later, the new Republican decided to become a Democrat again. But then another Republican decided to become a Democrat, and when this happened there were now twice as many Democrats as Republicans. How many members did the senate have?
Answers to last week’s puzzles
1. The roofer charged $200; the painter, $900; the plumber, $800; the electrician, $300; the carpenter, $3,000; the mason, $2,300.
2. The original number of needy persons was 20, and each week $120 was distributed.
3. It will take six arrows, scoring 17, 17, 17, 17, 16, 16.