Recognition vs. Realization

Realization is the understanding that results from a successful process of deduction. To perform this deduction, one needs evidence to use in the deduction process. One type of evidence to use when trying to realize the identity of a system is a recognition of a component of the system. Said recognition is achieved by matching the perceived component to the memory of an identical component.

In his Theory of Forms, Plato explains that all chairs existing in the material world are similar but not identical to one’s conception of a chair, which he calls “the ideal chair”. Given the difference (however slight) between the appearance of a real chair and the conception of the “ideal chair”, in order to realize that an unknown object is a chair, one must compare the appearance to the conception and recognize the matching components, such as the curvature of the seat or the texture of the legs. When one has recognized enough similarities, one can use deduction skills to realize that the object is a chair. Determining that the object is a chair is a realization rather than simply a larger recognition because deduction is necessary; the real chair is not identical to the viewer’s conception of a chair, and therefore, the identity of the real chair could not have been realized without deduction. If the ideal chair were to materialize itself in reality, however, then determining that the object were a chair would merely be recognition and not a realization because the ideal chair in reality would match the ideal chair in the mind and therefore deduction would be unnecessary.

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the cross-dressing and femininity-concealing Viola looks far different than Orsino’s conception of the ideal woman. Because these two appearances are so dissimilar, it takes the entirety of the play for him to realize her true gender. Before this ultimate realization occurs, Orsino recognizes many feminine traits in her, such as her “shrill and sound” small pipe. He compares her to women and by these comparisons, recognizes that some of her traits are feminine. He tells her that “Diana’s lip/ is not more smooth and rubious” and that “all is semblative a woman’s part.” But these recognitions are not enough to enable him to recognize that her gender is female. Recognizing in Viola’s twin brother many features of Viola including “one voice” and “one habit” enables him to, with deduction, realize that the “two persons” are twins. This realization functions as evidence from which he deduces that Viola is female and has merely been impersonating her brother. This realization, therefore, could not have occurred without the sum of the smaller recognitions, deduction, and their resulting realizations.