On the so-called "true" world

pp. 240-270

in: Philipp Frank, Robert S. Cohen, The law of causality and its limits, Berlin, Springer, 1998

Abstract

Whereas we have spoken so far (especially in chapter I) quite plainly of the world of our experiences as of the "real" world, we must now say something about a manner of speaking that uses "real" and "experience" as designating a pair of opposites. The difference between the terms "real" and "apparent" plays a great role in ordinary life as well as in natural science. For example we say: "apparently" the detective took a quiet walk, but "really" he carefully watched the entrance to a jeweller's shop. Or: The stone on which I stepped was "apparently" quite fast, but it was "really" so loose that it broke off.