Wound up like toys by some force—call it Will, élan vital, anima mundi, physiological or psychological processes, nature, or whatever—organisms go on running as they are bidden until they run down.
Only the force is real, not the things activated by it.
We are only puppets, and if we have consciousness may mistakenly believe we are self-winding persons who are making a go of it on our own.
Here is the signature motif of the pessimistic worldview : We are all mere puppets and behind the scenes of life there is something pernicious that makes a nightmare of our world.
I must be misunderstanding. I'm not real, but wind blowing my hair is real? I didn't cause that bad thing to happen, the devil made me do it? Hmm.. I hope I'm misunderstanding.
For me, the "force" is the push and pull of opposites, whether space & matter, light & dark, expansion & contraction, life & decay, produce & absorb, hunger for food, knowledge, experiences, love & the sharing of food, knowledge, experiences and love. On and on everything in a continuum of coming and going, round and round, etc., of creation and destruction, everything has a part in a continual transformation, even if it's just a lump of matter taking up space for the time being.
It's all real, like gravity and the thing dropped are both real. Am I missing your point?
@Matias Well I'd say all those things, including us, are real, but are in a constant state of change or transformation. We are not an eternal constant prime force which is everlasting, but we are real.
My take is that there are 2 basic prime forces, Time and Nature, existing in a field of opposites, which include Space and Matter and all the rest of opposing realities which are involved in the continuum of activity going forth.
The definition of Nature is that which seems to be the prime mover, but it is nothing without the time, space and matter within which it does its prime moving.
So, to me, everything is real and necessary for each each other to exist and continue changing along the path toward balance and harmony or whatever the end goal is. I'm thinking Will is just the striving for that balance, filling a void, a vacuum, with our intentions.
Fun to think about, though I admit to still not being able to make sense of your statement that the things I think are real are really not reality. If it exists, it's real. Those are my thoughts, uneducated as they might be.
@Matias Also, I'd like to add that what you call "Will" I guess I'm calling "Nature" but what good is "will" or "nature" without the void to draw it out and the materials with which to create? All of it is essential to existence, not just the "Will" so alone it is nothing, therefore I submit that it's all real.
The pent up energy in the wind up toy mechanism is just borrowed to be released when no longer being stored, correct? What good is it if there is nothing resisting it and so to propel when released? Just questions I have with your statement.
As good a way as any to abdicate responsibility.
@Matias I agree that morality is not real and determinism would see as just puppets but does that mean we shouldn't act or should you stay sat in front of the steam roller because you don't think you're a free agent? And although nature is amoral, nature perpetuates what works so isn't that a "moral" guide in itself?