The Philosophy of 'as If '

1. The Indispensable Role of Fictions in Thought and Life

“As if,” i.e., appearance, the consciously-false, plays an enormous part in science, in world-philosophies and in life.

Consciously false constructs. The core of this philosophy is the assertion that human thought frequently employs "fictions"—ideas or judgments known to be theoretically untrue, or even self-contradictory. These are not mere errors but deliberate, artificial constructs. They are essential tools that enable us to navigate, understand, and act effectively within a complex reality that often resists direct, logically pure apprehension.

Ubiquitous utility. Fictions are found across all domains of human endeavor, from the most abstract sciences like mathematics and physics to the practical realms of law, ethics, and religion. They serve as mental shortcuts, simplifying intricate phenomena and allowing us to operate "as if" certain conditions were true, even when we know they are not. This pervasive utility underscores their indispensable nature for both theoretical progress and practical living.

Beyond mere error. Unlike simple mistakes, fictions are consciously adopted. Their value lies not in their correspondence to objective reality, which is often denied, but in their practical efficacy. They are "legitimatized errors" or "conscious contradictions" that, despite their theoretical flaws, prove to be profoundly fruitful in achieving specific intellectual or practical goals, making them a cornerstone of human cognition.

2. Thought as a Purposive Biological Instrument

Thought is originally only a means in the struggle for existence and to this extent only a biological function.

Organic function of the psyche. Vaihinger posits that scientific thought, like other organic functions, is primarily a purposive activity of the psyche, not a passive mirror reflecting an external world. The mind actively elaborates and modifies sensory material, creating an "inner world" that, while departing from reality, serves the practical aim of survival and enrichment of life. This perspective views logical processes as akin to biological adaptations.

Means to an end. The fundamental purpose of thought is not knowledge for its own sake, but rather to facilitate action and self-preservation. Concepts, judgments, and logical structures are instruments developed to enable organisms to deal with things, calculate events, and realize impulses effectively. This instrumental view of thought challenges the traditional philosophical ideal of pure, disinterested knowledge.

Law of Preponderance of Means over End. A universal natural phenomenon dictates that means, originally serving a purpose, tend to develop beyond what is strictly necessary and become ends in themselves. Thought, initially a tool for the will, has thus emancipated itself to pursue theoretical knowledge. However, this emancipation often leads it to pose "impossible problems" that are beyond its original biological design to solve.

3. The Crucial Distinction Between Fictions and Hypotheses

The former is artificial, the latter natural.

A fundamental methodological difference. A hypothesis is an assumption directed towards reality, claiming or hoping to coincide with future perceptions and demanding verification. It seeks to establish a truth. In contrast, a fiction is an ideational construct known to be false or impossible from the outset, yet intentionally employed for its utility. It does not seek verification of its content but justification of its usefulness.

Goethe vs. Darwin. This distinction is vividly illustrated by comparing Goethe's "animal archetype" with Darwin's theory of evolution. Goethe's archetype was a schematic fiction, a mental model to organize animal forms "as if" they derived from a single type, without asserting its actual existence. Darwin's theory, however, was a hypothesis, positing the actual historical existence of common ancestors and seeking empirical proof.

Expediency vs. probability. The criterion for accepting a hypothesis is its probability and agreement with empirical facts; a single contradictory fact can invalidate it. For a fiction, the criterion is its expediency and practical value. Its contradictions or lack of correspondence with reality do not diminish its utility, provided it serves its intended purpose in thought or action.

4. The "As If" Linguistic Form Reveals Fictional Logic

This formula, then, states that reality as given, the particular, is compared with something whose impossibility and unreality is at the same time admitted.

A complex conjunction. The phrase "as if" (als ob, comme si, quasi) is the linguistic hallmark of a fiction, encapsulating its unique logical structure. It signifies a comparison or equation of two terms, where one term (reality) is treated "as" another (the fictional construct), while simultaneously acknowledging "if" the latter were true, which it is not. This dual nature—equating while denying—is central to fictional thought.

Implicit denial and utility. The "if" clause in "as if" explicitly states an unreal or impossible condition, yet inferences are drawn from it. This implies a conscious decision to maintain the assumption formally, despite its theoretical invalidity, because it serves a practical purpose. For instance, treating a curved line "as if" it consisted of infinitely small straight lines allows for calculation, even though it's geometrically impossible.

Beyond simple comparison. Unlike a mere trope or real analogy, the "as if" construction involves a deliberate, often paradoxical, mental maneuver. It's not just comparing A to B, but treating A as if it were B, knowing B is not truly applicable or even existent. This sophisticated linguistic form reflects the advanced intellectual development required to consciously employ fictions.

5. Contradiction as a Driving Force for Intellectual Progress

The main result of our investigation is, then, that contradiction is the driving force of thought and that without it thought could not attain its goal at all; that it is immanent in discursive thought and is one of its constituent elements.

Inherent in true fictions. A defining characteristic of "real fictions" is their internal contradiction or their direct opposition to reality. Concepts like empty space, mathematical points, or the infinitely small are logically absurd, yet they form the indispensable basis of exact sciences. This paradox highlights that logical purity is not always a prerequisite for intellectual progress.

Overcoming logical paralysis. If thought were to be paralyzed by every contradiction, it would cease to function. Instead, the mind, driven by its practical aims, boldly embraces these contradictions. It operates with concepts that are "unthinkable, absurd, and impossible," demonstrating that logical consistency, while desirable, is often secondary to the utility derived from these "logically impossible" constructs.

Historical evidence. The history of science is replete with examples where objections based on self-contradiction were raised against groundbreaking achievements, such as Leibniz's and Newton's infinitesimal calculus or the atomic theory. These controversies often revealed that the disputed concepts were, in fact, valuable fictions, whose contradictions were not flaws to be eliminated but inherent features enabling their utility.

6. The Method of Antithetic Error: Correcting Deliberate Mistakes

The whole secret consists, consequently, in compensating for an error committed.

Deliberate deviation and correction. Fictions involve deliberate "errors" or "deviations from reality." To yield correct results despite these initial falsifications, thought employs a compensatory mechanism. This process, termed the "method of antithetic error," involves making a second, opposite error that effectively cancels out the first, allowing the final outcome to align with reality.

Mathematical illustration. A prime example is Fermat's method for finding maxima, where an arbitrary quantity 'e' is introduced (an error), and then later equated to zero (the antithetic error), leading to a correct solution. Similarly, in solving quadratic equations, an auxiliary quantity is added to both sides, effectively canceling the initial alteration. These mathematical "artifices" demonstrate how thought can progress precisely through such indirect, seemingly illogical, maneuvers.

Scaffolding for thought. Fictions, and the antithetic operations they entail, act as temporary "scaffoldings" for thought. They are introduced to facilitate mental movement and overcome difficulties, but are discarded once their purpose is served. The intermediate, contradictory elements "drop out" in the final result, leaving behind a correct, non-contradictory conclusion, much like a mold is destroyed after casting a metal object.

7. Categories and General Ideas as Subjective Fictions

All these categories are analogies, applications of an analogous, though in the last analysis unfitting, relationship to objective circumstances.

Subjective constructs for order. Fundamental categories like "thing and attribute," "whole and parts," or "cause and effect" are not objective features of reality but purely subjective achievements of the psyche. They are forms of apperception, analogies derived from inner experience, that the mind imposes on the chaotic flux of sensations to bring order and make sense of the world.

Fictional nature of universals. General ideas, such as "man" or "tree," are likewise fictions. Objectively, only particulars exist; the general concept is a mental construct, an "ideational knot" formed for mnemonic and communicative purposes. While useful for classification and judgment, these universals correspond to nothing real in the external world and are, strictly speaking, "logically impossible inventions."

Practical utility, theoretical valuelessness. These categorical and general fictions have immense practical value for communication, memory, and action, creating an "illusion of understanding." However, they offer no true knowledge of reality itself. To mistake these convenient mental aids for objective truths is a fundamental error, leading to philosophical dogmatism and "frivolous questions" that arise from hypostatizing mere thought-forms.

8. Ethical and Religious Concepts as Necessary Fictions

The most sublime fiction of this kind is the “moral world order;” and there is also the idea of infinite perfection, le progrès indéfini, both for individuals (Leibniz) and in the history of the world.

Foundations of morality. Concepts like freedom, responsibility, immortality, and God are presented as "practical fictions." Despite being logically contradictory or theoretically undemonstrable, they are indispensable for the development and maintenance of a high degree of culture and morality. For instance, the idea of freedom, though a "logical monstrosity," is the foundation of criminal law and moral judgment.

"Act as if." Kant's ethical philosophy, in particular, is interpreted through the "as if" lens. To act morally means to behave "as if" one were free, "as if" one's duties were divine commands, and "as if" a moral world order existed where good actions are ultimately rewarded. This "practical belief" in fictions provides the necessary incentive for ethical conduct, even if theoretical reason denies their objective reality.

Conscious self-deception. Religious dogmas, such as the Virgin Birth or the idea of Hell, are seen as expedient fictions or "aesthetic machinery." They serve pedagogical purposes, animating moral impulses and clothing duties in a sensuous, poetic form. For the enlightened individual, these are consciously recognized as myths or symbols, providing "unconditional value" for ethical life, rather than asserting "unconditional existence."

9. Mathematics: An Exact Science Built on Fictional Foundations

The fundamental concepts of mathematics are space, or more precisely empty space, empty time, point, line, surface, or more precisely points without extension, lines without breadth, surfaces without depth, spaces without content. All these concepts are contradictory fictions, mathematics being based upon an entirely imaginary foundation, indeed upon contradictions.

Contradictory bedrock. Mathematics, often considered the epitome of exactitude, is paradoxically built upon a foundation of "contradictory fictions." Concepts like empty space, points without extension, lines without breadth, and the infinitely small are logically impossible. Yet, these absurd constructs are "necessary, useful, and fruitful" for mathematical operations and progress.

Ingenious artifices. The development of calculus by Leibniz and Newton, with its use of "differentials" or "fluxions," exemplifies this. These are "purely fictional, contradictory constructs" that enable the subsumption of curves under the laws of straight lines. The "passage through the infinite" is a transparent methodological process, where contradictions are not avoided but harnessed for practical calculation.

Beyond reality. Mathematical fictions are "artificial preparations" that allow mathematicians to investigate the characteristics and laws of extended objects in an abstract manner, detached from their materiality. They are "ideal creations" that simplify complex problems, generalize results, and facilitate calculations, proving that even the most rigorous sciences rely on mental constructs that do not correspond to objective reality.

10. The Law of Ideational Shifts: Evolution of Concepts

A number of ideas pass through various stages of development, namely those of fiction, hypothesis and dogma; and conversely dogma, hypothesis and fiction.

Dynamic conceptual evolution. This law describes the fluid, historical transformation of ideas within the human mind and culture. Concepts are not static but evolve through different stages: from conscious fictions to hypotheses (assumed truths), and then to dogmas (firmly established beliefs), or in reverse, from dogmas to hypotheses and finally to recognized fictions. This process is driven by the psyche's inherent tendency to resolve cognitive tension.

Psychological drivers. The psyche seeks stable equilibrium, finding the tension of a hypothesis or, even more so, a fiction, uncomfortable. This drives the "transformation" of a fiction into a hypothesis, and a hypothesis into a dogma, by illegitimate means if necessary, to achieve greater certainty. Conversely, scientific "regression" occurs when dogmas are challenged by experience, becoming hypotheses, and then, if their objective validity is disproven but their utility remains, they revert to fictions.

Historical examples. This law is evident in the history of myths (conscious fables becoming historical hypotheses and then dogmas), religious concepts (Greek deities, Christian dogmas becoming fictions for enlightened minds), and philosophical ideas (Plato's Ideas, Kant's Ding an sich, the concept of the soul). The ability to maintain a concept as a conscious fiction, rather than letting it solidify into dogma, signifies a highly developed logical mind.

11. Critical Positivism: Embracing the Fictional Nature of Knowledge

For it, only the observed sequence and co-existence of phenomena exist, and upon these alone it takes its stand. Any explanation going beyond this can only do so by using the accessories of discursive thought, i.e., through fictions.

Sensation as ultimate reality. Critical Positivism asserts that ultimate reality consists solely of sensations and their observable sequences and co-existences. Everything beyond this—matter, motion, space, time, categories, and general ideas—are subjective, fictional constructs of the human mind. These constructs are not reflections of an external reality but instruments for organizing and navigating the world of sensations.

The world as an instrument. Our conceptual world is not a copy of the actual world but a "secondary or tertiary construction," an "instrument for grasping and subjectively understanding that world." It is a system of "expedients of thought" that facilitates communication, memory, and action. To confuse these mental tools with objective reality is a fundamental error that leads to philosophical illusions and insoluble "world-riddles."

Beyond skepticism and dogmatism. This philosophy avoids both dogmatic assertions of objective truth and skeptical despair over the limitations of knowledge. It critically recognizes that while thought necessarily "falsifies" reality through its subjective operations, it nevertheless yields correct practical results. The goal is not to eliminate fictions, which are indispensable, but to consciously recognize them as such, appreciating their utility without mistaking them for truth.

12. Nietzsche's "Will to Illusion": Affirming Necessary Falsity

The erroneousness of a concept does not for me constitute an objection to it; the question is — to what extent is it advantageous to life.

Life's reliance on untruths. Nietzsche, influenced by Lange, recognized that life and science are fundamentally dependent on "imaginary or false conceptions." He argued that "the falsest judgments are the most indispensable ones for us," and that "the renunciation of false judgments would be a renunciation of life." This "will to illusion" is not a weakness but a necessary condition for existence and flourishing.

Conscious embrace of falsification. For the "superior man," this reliance on illusion becomes a conscious act. Nietzsche speaks of "lying, in the extra-moral sense"—a deliberate deviation from reality in art, myth, and even scientific concepts. He sees the intellect as a "falsificative apparatus" that, through "forced forms" like substance, identity, and permanence, creates a simplified, artificial world that is advantageous for life.

Perspectivism as a fundamental truth. Nietzsche's "perspectivism" posits that all knowledge is inherently perspectival, a "necessary deception" that remains even after its falsity is recognized. Concepts like cause, effect, subject, object, and even numbers are "cognitive metaphors" or "falsifications" that enable us to interact with the world. The value of these "regulative fictions" lies in their utility for life, not in their objective truth.

Last updated: January 11, 2026