1984

Even though hes not exactly a house hold name in the philosophy world I think the work of Antisthenes is particularly interesting. The idea that there is only one reality keeps people from just being able to make up their own reality. If society belives that there is only one reality, only one correct account of the things that happen then it keeps the dangerous idea of a consensus reality from forming. The best example of how dangerous this is was in George Orwell's 1984 where the story's protagonist lives in a world where the countries governing body simply makes up events for the benefit of keep power over the people. And this works because the government is punishing those who have thoughts to the contrary because a consensus reality can only exist if there is actually a consensus. We even see some examples of this in countries run by dictatorship around the world today. The government in North Korea is constantly feeding misinformation and propaganda to its people and those who dissent are punished. Antisthenes thoughts on what is real prove to be very forward thinking and still relevant today especially when applied to how a governing body rules over its people.