Reality of Fantasy

Abstract

The main question of this article the author formulates as follows: сan we consider fantasy one of the basic phenomena of human nature? The phenomenon of fantasy is considered in a wide range of philosophical areas, occupies a dominant place in aesthetics and is deeply analyzed in a phenomenological perspective; the epistemological theory cannot do without imagination. Nevertheless, with all the diversity of philosophical thought, the fantasy actually is a derived, subsidiary phenomenon and does not has a status that, for example, has a human mind.

To analyze this problem, the author relies on the classical interpretation of the concept of reality as an objective material world around a man. Nevertheless, he concludes that this interpretation is incomplete, since it reflects only one part of reality, determined by the property of material arrangement. With this understanding of reality, fantasy comes in antonymic series with reality. Such conception of reality does not allow to consider fantasy as a phenomenon that is a basis of human nature. Because the very notion of nature is category of material, shaped, manifest reality.

The author briefly analyze some interpretations of reality and shows that the material reality is only one of its different forms. The objective world in its constituted form is determined by completeness as something what is present in embodied state. The researcher provides arguments in favor of following conclusion: fantasy is a part of reality, is its particular form, which have a different spatial dimension and exist under completely different laws than the physical reality. These two spaces of reality interact with each other and constitute the uniform integrity of reality in general.

Fantasy and objective reality do not exist by themselves, they are part of absolute reality - universal entity, which Russian philosopher Semyon Frank designated by the term "Primary reality". Fantasy and objective reality are not antonyms, they are parts of a single "Primary reality", which includes both natural, physical and spiritual, fantastic things. They can't exist in complete isolation, as two completely different worlds; their relationship assumes, determines and conditions the existence of each other and the existence of reality in general as "Primary reality".

The author defines objective reality as the embodiment of forms and fantasy as a meaningful entity. In this respect, the two worlds intersect in a single point under sensual perception of human eye. The man not just observe the object in its factuality as an empty reality. He always gives to the object conceptual component, meaning, interpretation. A man knows the ultimate design of the world through the realm of imagination. Images suppose the integrity of thing, endow it with content, they are not subject to the spatial laws of physical world and are preset in all its entirety. As a result, fantasy is not just one of the tools of knowledge and creativity; it determines the existence of the surrounding world in all its completeness. Moreover, dreams are sometimes far more real than the pressing reality. This is evidenced by picturesque fantasies of artists, beautiful words of poets, incredible harmony of composers. Created image fills the human soul, causes trembling of the spirit, deep feelings, encourages heroic, dramatic, sometimes tragic acts. Artistic image bypasses sensory perception, penetrates the human soul in all its purity, fullness and versatility, enriching the inner world of man.

Fantasy and reality form the integrity, where man is at the crossroads of the worlds; being a bodily creature, existing in a pressing nature, the human soul seeks to be deceived by illusion, by fantasy. In this respect, the imagination allows a person to make up for the insufficiency of his existence. Such human needs as cognition, creativity, identity, ancestral roots and religion cannot be implemented on the basis of objective reality. With the help of reason people can't find an answer to the question "What will happen with their families, friends, relatives, their culture and their nation after their life comes to end?". The phenomenon of fantasy allows to contact with those strata of human existence that are beyond the limits of surrounding world and allotted time. In fact, these needs are insatiable, but the fantasy gives us the possibility of imaging, of guessing something that is beyond empirical positive knowledge.

However, fantasy not simply meets the existential needs of man. Thanks to ability to fantasize, existential needs define a human as a special kind of being. Only human may ask the questions which he cannot answer, but can illustrate with variations from the world of fantasy. In this vein, the author believes that fantasy is a phenomenon that can rightfully be considered the backbone of anthropological nature.

In conclusion, the researcher shows the tricks of fantasy in the context of modern world's trends. Fantasy is increasingly separated from man, transferred to industrial, conveyor level, fills the reality with ersatz and phantasms. Modern man exists in the world of artificial dreams and fantasies. This excess of imagination not only complements the reality, but also rather acts in a destructive way. People immerse in the dream; they are attracted by virtual world, which makes their existence on the one hand sweet and carefree, but on the other hand invariably destroys the integrity of human existence.