The Real and the Ideal

 I have thought a lot about the divide between the real and the ideal. The real includes our present circumstances, the reality that we are currently living. The ideal can be understood as something we have not yet experienced or lived. The ideal exists as some kind of romanticized reality, a perfected form of something. 

This is the language of Plato, who spoke of the world of forms. Plato thought that we could best understand our current reality by contemplating the essence of things. For example, what is it that makes a mountain, a mountain? A boat, a boat? A human, a human?  Plato sought to understood the pure essence of things he saw in the world. He believed that whatever he saw in the world would be but an imitation of its pure form. Plato extended this reasoning beyond tangible substances to include abstract concepts such as liberty, justice, and virtue. 

Plato recognized the distinction between the real and the ideal. He sought to learn from the forms in order to better understand his reality. Plato, however, never thought that the world of forms was something that actually existed, a place that we could arrive. For Plato, this world existed only in reason and for the purpose of understanding his present reality. He recognized that the real was not meant to become the ideal. In fact, it never could. We may have a perfect idea of a circle. We know its ideal form. However, any circle that exists in our world, no matter how precise, will never be a perfect circle as it exists in the world of forms. 

Source

Despite this, we as human beings tend to believe that the ideal is something we can achieve. We strive for an ideal society, an ideal character, or an ideal marriage. What we are truly striving for is perfection. I should note that perfection may mean different things for different people. The ideal is often unique in some way or another for everyone. My concern is that the ideal cannot become the real. No amount of effort can produce the idealized perfection we seek. There will always exist a divide between the real and the ideal. If our ideal should ever become our reality, then some new ideal would surely come to replace it. 

This does not call for a pessimistic view of our present reality. Nor does it exclude us from seeking effortful change and improvement. The divide between the real and the ideal simply calls our attention to the necessity of the real. The present calls for our attention, it yearns for our embrace, and yet we ignore it as we focus on the ideal. Like Plato recognized, the ideal can be useful. It can help us make sense of our present reality and show us a direction to move forward. Sometimes we need to tap into the ideal. However, I have found that in modern society we live our lives engrossed by the ideal. We neglect what is real and present before us. 

My call is to live in the present, to embrace the real. We may consider the ideal, but we should never let it overtake our thoughts or rule our lives. To do that is to chase a butterfly that always eludes our grasp. The real demands our attention. There are people who need us to be with them in the here and now. There is work to be done today.