How do you turn philosphical ideas into physical reality?

[jay gw]

Does anyone have a good summary of what the process is for turning philosophical ideas into physical reality?

How do ideas like "capitalism" which may start in the mind or the mind may reflect the physical reality of people trading back and forth ----- how do those types of ideas become a system in the 'real' world which we can measure objectively?

Why do some philosophical ideas that are then turned into something real not work? I'm thinking of communism or Naziism for example. Despite the best efforts of millions of people, they didn't work as anyone planned. Why not?

Or here's something more down to earth and mundane: why do certain conceptions for organizations like a business manage to succeed while many fail? Or the concept of human rights laws. Human rights is a philosophical idea. It's a manufactured idea that does not reflect anything in the world. The laws have been written from the ideas of the writer. If it's such a sound idea, why is it not uniformly understood and practiced?

Do you think there some sort of pattern to why some philosophical ideas translate perfectly into the world but others fail very badly?

Kind of a vague question but anything you've ever heard or thought of about this, just list it.

 

[drkitten]

Does anyone have a good summary of what the process is for turning philosophical ideas into physical reality?

Duct tape. Lots of duct tape. You can basically do anything with duct tape if you are willing to use enough of it.

 

[c4ts]

Well you just reach into your thought bubble and take out the little picture and it becomes real...






No.




Certain philosophical concepts can be applied in practice, that's not the same as "making them real." Theories can be tested, and many philosophical ideas are themselves derived from observation (Platonic forms, for example, or Aristotle's concept of morphos), so they might as well have been "real" to begin with.

But you are talking about political philosophy, which is the composition and practice of political theory as certain concepts are tested. Their successes and failures largely depend on the people and the country in which they are practiced.

 

[Iacchus]

Any ideas, which have merit, can be transformed into a physical reality. It's just a matter of finding someone dumb enough -- or, smart enough -- who is willing to do the work.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I think capitalism was around long before anyone named it, or thought it out as an economic theory. The thing came before the theory of it.

That might explain why it actually works, unlike communism, which was planned out in the head and then applied to reality.

There must be two kinds of philosophical ideas: those that explain and describe what is already there, and those that are new ideas that someone can attempt to implement if they feel like it. I think I prefer the former, as they use philosophy to understand what is, rather than the latter, which veer into what ought to be. Ought to be can be a dangerous place.

 

[FrankP]

Does anyone have a good summary of what the process is for turning philosophical ideas into physical reality?

How do ideas like "capitalism" which may start in the mind or the mind may reflect the physical reality of people trading back and forth ----- how do those types of ideas become a system in the 'real' world which we can measure objectively?

I think your question makes unwarranted assumptions about what is real, or at least what is physical.

I don't think a concept like capitalism is "made real" beyond the kind of reality it has as a mental concept. A physical person in the world may do real work for money that buys them real goods. But it is not obvious that there is an instance of some objective thing called "capitalism" in that.

Take another example, ideas may get written down. So I have an object made of mashed up wood pulp with dark marks on it which I interpret as embodying the thoughts of Adam Smith. The book is physical, but Smith's ideas are not. It's a bit like Bill Gates allowing you ownership of a shiny disk and some magnetic fields, but only a revocable license to use the software.