Truth in context vs ultimate truth

[Angrboda]

Mostly empty space? No, the space is filled with forces, and it's the interplay of invisible forces which make up the solidity. Just because it isn't a particle doesn't mean it isn't a part of the real.

Where are forces, and what are they, beyond descriptions of the relationships among things? This empty space filled with particle-less forces is starting to sound a lot like eastern philosophy (one hand clapping), or like some of the Christian theosophical ideas. Does slapping a few formulae on them and dubbing them "science" rather than philosophical or divine principles really change what they are, and their inaccessability to direct knowledge?

The formulae are how we describe reality. We describe particles the same way. Science is about models, in the language of mathematics. Unless you're going to abscond into idealism again, there is no difference, from our perspective, of the reality of forces as opposed to particles. (Oh, and you have direct knowledge; the forces are what give the desk its solidity.)