Abstract:
The paper presents a realistic reading of Human, all too human I. The first section justifies two theses: (i) the thing itself has three meanings: world, metaphysical world and material substance; (ii) science presents an approximate knowledge of the essence of the world. The second section supports the following assertion: the historical method does not authorize a conclusion about the unknowability of the thing itself. The latter clarifies the meaning of the world as representation and explains how science can approach the essence of the real. The conclusion introduces the causes that mislead anti-realists: the operations of the imagination.
Keywords:
Thing in itself; Ontology; Realism; Anti-realism; Representation