The “thing-in-itself,” or as Kant so elegantly put it, das Ding an sich. Fancy right?
It sounds like something you might overhear at a philosophy party (send me an invite!) while you’re sipping wine and wondering if anyone else also finds reality to be more confusing with each passing year. Well, grab your coffee (or wine), because we’re about to explore one of the most fascinating—and mildly frustrating—concepts in philosophy.
Where It All Began: Kant’s Big Question
Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century German philosopher, had one of those minds that couldn’t settle for simple answers. While most of us might look at a tree and think, “Yep, that’s a tree,” Kant would squint at it and ask, “But what is it really?”
He proposed that everything we experience is filtered through our senses and mind—so what we see, touch, and feel isn’t the thing as it really is, but only our perception of it. The “thing-in-itself,” or the true essence of anything, is forever hidden from us, lurking just beyond our ability to perceive it. In Kant’s own words,
“We can never, even by the most intimate acquaintance with the objects of the senses, know anything of things-in-themselves.”
And there you have it—what we’re seeing isn’t reality, it’s our mind’s best guess. Or maybe the tree’s just a tree? Who knows.
Technology: Modern Life’s Perception Obscurer
Fast forward a few centuries, and we’ve got a whole new layer of confusion. Kant and his philosopher buddies didn’t have to contend with smartphones, social media, and the virtual universe. They were working with good old-fashioned 3D reality—no filters, no screens. Back then, if you saw a sunset, it was just a sunset, not something that you immediately wondered if it’d look better with a filter.
These days, technology wraps reality in layers of distraction. We look at life through screens, where even our most basic interactions—texting a friend, scrolling through endless feeds—are mediated. What we experience in the digital age is even more removed from the “thing-in-itself” than Kant could have imagined.
Think about it: Have you ever looked at a plate of food and judged it based on how many likes it might get, rather than how it tastes? Have you caught yourself taking photos of a concert and realizing later you didn’t actually listen to the music?
Self-Reflection Time: How often do you feel like you’re experiencing life directly, without the filter of technology? When was the last time you looked at something just for what it was, without snapping a photo or sharing it online? What does this say about your relationship with reality?
Schopenhauer’s Spin: Reality Is Will
Arthur Schopenhauer, ever the delightful pessimist, picked up on Kant’s idea and decided to make it even more fun. He believed that the “thing-in-itself” was not some unknowable essence but an irrational force he called “will.” In his view, all of existence is driven by this blind will, causing endless striving and suffering. So, if you’ve ever felt like life is just one big hamster wheel of wants and needs, congratulations! Schopenhauer would say you’re seeing things pretty clearly.
Schopenhauer’s quote sums it up well:
“The will to life is the source of suffering.”
It’s not just the thing-in-itself that we can’t grasp, but the fact that our desires keep us in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Sounds cheery, right?
Self-Reflection Time: Do you ever feel like you’re caught up in endless cycles of wanting things, only to find that once you get them, you’re still not satisfied? What are the “things-in-themselves” that you think will bring you happiness, but maybe aren’t what they seem?
Nietzsche: Forget the Thing-In-Itself, Focus on Your Interpretation
Enter Friedrich Nietzsche, who was less concerned with finding out the truth of the “thing-in-itself” and more interested in how we interpret the world. His approach? The facts don’t matter as much as what you do with them. Nietzsche famously said,
“There are no facts, only interpretations,”
which is essentially his way of saying: Stop worrying about the reality you can’t know and focus on how you choose to engage with life.
Maybe we can’t know the true nature of things, but Nietzsche would argue that this doesn’t mean we’re powerless. We create meaning through our actions, our choices, and our perspectives. So if the coffee cup you’re holding isn’t exactly what it seems—who cares? What matters is how you enjoy it, how it fits into your life, and what you make of the moment.
Self-Reflection Time: How do your interpretations of life events shape your reality? Are you giving more power to things outside your control, or are you creating your own meaning through your responses to life?
Technology’s Deeper Obscuring: Virtual Reality or True Reality?
In today’s world, we don’t just experience reality—we can create new ones entirely. Virtual reality, augmented reality, even AI-generated content—all these technologies are pulling us further away from the “thing-in-itself.” When you put on a VR headset, you’re fully immersing yourself in a world that doesn’t even try to reflect reality. It’s not just a filter; it’s a whole new layer.
Kant could have never predicted a future where we willingly step out of the real world into digital ones, further distancing ourselves from whatever is actually “real.” Yet, here we are, toggling between realities, wondering why it’s harder than ever to feel grounded.
Self-Reflection Time: How often do you find yourself escaping into virtual worlds, whether through social media, games, or VR? How does this affect your sense of what’s real? What are the consequences of living more in these “fake” realities than the physical one?
A Call to Action: Grasping Reality—Or At Least Trying
Here’s the thing: We may never know what the “thing-in-itself” truly is. But maybe that’s not the point. The point, as Nietzsche would say, is how we live with that uncertainty and create meaning anyway.
Want to start seeing reality a little clearer? Here’s an exercise to help you break through the fog of technology and perception:
Exercise: The Mindful Moment Challenge
- Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted (yes, that means leaving your phone behind).
- Choose one object—a tree, a coffee cup, even a spoon—and spend five minutes observing it. Notice every detail: the texture, the shape, the colors. Try to experience it without any judgment or thought about what it “should” be.
- Reflect: How did it feel to engage with something without technology? Did you notice things you usually overlook? How does this change your perception of reality?
- Jot down your thoughts in a journal and consider: Is the thing you observed more complex than it initially appeared? What does this say about how you engage with life on a daily basis?
In the end, the “thing-in-itself” may remain an eternal mystery. But the journey to discovering how you perceive and interact with the world? That’s entirely in your hands.