Do all cultures make the same radical distinction between “appearance” and “reality” which ours has inherited from Plato? Are their hierarchies the same? In other words, do they necessarily accept the demand that contradictions must be ironed out and that all perceptions that clash with beliefs must force us either to change our views of the “objective world” or declare the perception to have been a subjective experience—an illusion? Even in our rationalist culture we don’t often live up to this logical precept. We try to evade it, especially when our emotions are involved.
