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Philosophical Definitions   Reality has to be defined properly before philosophy has gotten to the starting point. It never is. Reality — The configuration of any substance, material or spiritual. Knowledge — Points of unified reality in the mind. Truth — The communicated representation of unified reality. Reason — Making relationships between realities. Understanding — unified reality in the mind. It's stunning how poor quality definitions are in philosophy. No one uses standard definitions, because none of the definitions are accurate enough to be of any value. Philosophy hasn't gotten to the starting point until reality is defined properly. Of course, it never is. So here's how to define reality. First, one must consider the functions of reality. It includes thoughts in the mind, that which is observed and that which can be communicated. It includes so much of everything that a definition must be extremely broad. Before an actual definition can be determined, it is necessary to know what existence is. All existence must be made of substance and configurations of substance. Neither substance nor configurations can exist without the other. The same is true for spiritual and material realities. Therefore, the definition of reality is looked for in the substance and configurations of existence. To test substance for reality, an example is used. A clay model is a good test. The question then is, is reality in the substance. A model of a tree can be made of a different substance, and it still represents a tree. So the reality is not in the substance. The question then is whether the reality is in the configuration. When the configuration is changed, the reality changes. Therefore, the reality is in the configuration. Reality then is the configuration of any substance. This definition is adequate for both material and spiritual substance. It is accurate for thoughts in the mind, for that which is observed and for that which is communicated. The quality of reality is dependent upon consistent relationships between the elements within it. Contradictions are viewed as falsehoods. When all elements have consistent relationships, the whole is a unified reality. There is one large unified reality. There can never be more than one, because realities which have conflicting relationships within them, or to other significant realities, can never get very large before becoming exposed as corrupt and worthless. To reduce conflicts in life, the realities within the mind must be similar to realities outside the mind. Science is pursued for that reason. Therefore, increasing understanding is unifying the realities in the mind by making them similar to objective unified reality. (Objective means originating outside of the minds in question.) Knowledge is an important piece of unified reality in the mind. Truth is an attempt to properly represent the characteristics of unified reality. Therefore, its proper definition is the communicated representation of unified reality. And there it is. As simple as that. Why does the human society use millions of so called philosophers to muddle around in that subject for at least five thousand years and never make any forward progress.