This illusory state of detachment can become addictive as we isolate ourselves a safe distance from the cruelty of our fleshly lives, where we are flawed, powerless and inconsequential.
For the United States, the best possible outcome would be for the militants to withdraw from their illusory state in Iraq to bases in Syria, where they might wither in the face of strengthened Syrian rebels; ideally, the rebels would also bring an end to the Assad regime in Damascus.
Today, education is geared towards assessment — towards preparing students for some illusory, state-driven, assessment-driven goals, which may have no relevance in the end to giving them the skills and preparation they need to thrive outside of higher education.
Success for the overworked, mostly dedicated characters is not guaranteed, and at times it's close to illusory, an unusual state of affairs among mainstream crime dramas.
The pristine, human-free state, illusory though it may be, serves as a control group; without it, conservation is in some ways cast adrift.
Faced with threats, real and illusory, the Hobbesian state's reaction is to seek to impose its will by using force, even where that involves flouting international norms and laws.
Certainly, member states have been wary of giving up the illusory game of nation-state diplomacy.
But the windfall is probably illusory, for while the state has collected more money in taxes, governments have also had to pay higher gasoline bills.
"We understand how deceptive blind faith in an omnipotent state is, how illusory are the hopes that total intervention in economic life might fix everything and put everything in its place," Mr. Putin said.
We now know that New York City's gains on the state tests were illusory.
1) "We now know that New York City's gains on the state tests were illusory.
