Kaherealist

Kaherealist is a term used in philosophy and contemporary art to describe a stance that seeks to affirm the existence of a mind-independent reality while acknowledging that human perception and interpretation shape our experience of that reality. Proponents describe kaherealism as a middle path between strict scientific realism and anti-realist or constructivist accounts, arguing that realism does not require unmediated access to the world but can be pursued through careful attention to perceptual and contextual factors.

Core tenets include a commitment to a mind-independent reality, coupled with the claim that perception and interpretation mediate our access to that reality. Kaherealists argue for careful attention to inference, bias, and context, and they often valorize documentary or phenomenological methods to capture both the object and the observer.

Origin and spread: The term emerged in online forums and self-published essays in the mid-2010s; it gained traction in contemporary art criticism and philosophy blogs in the early 2020s. Proponents include artists, writers, and scholars who work at the intersection of realism and interpretation. Notable debates involve how to distinguish kaherealist practice from related currents such as realism, phenomenology, and speculative realism.

Reception is mixed. Supporters see kaherealism as a productive framework for reconciling accurate representation with interpretive humility, useful for both visual arts and cognitive science. Critics worry that the label risks ambiguity or overlaps with existing schools without clear criteria. In practice, kaherealist works tend to present highly credible depictions while foregrounding the interpretive lens through which they are produced.

See also: realism, phenomenology, new realism, speculative realism, documentary art.