Realism is the view that reality exists independently of our minds. The material world is not created by our opinions, beliefs, language, or culture. We experience it through our senses and ideas, imperfectly, but something real is there pushing back.
Sometimes people challenge science by saying realism is bunk. They might say, “Every worldview starts with assumptions,” or “truth is relative,” or “science is just one framework among many.”
And in one limited sense, they have a point. Every framework does start somewhere.
But realism starts with the most basic shared fact we have:
Reality exists.
The material world is there. Whether this universe is ultimate reality, a simulation, or something inside the mind of God, we still live in it. And whatever this reality is, it behaves in consistent ways.
Gravity works. Medicine works. Vaccines work. Setting a broken arm works. Planting seeds in soil and watering them works.
You do not have to beg God to make a tomato plant grow. You need the right conditions: soil, water, light, temperature, and time.
That is realism.
It does not say we know everything. It does not say science is perfect. It does not say human beings have direct access to absolute truth.
It says reality is real, and our ideas are better or worse depending on how well they line up with it.
So when someone says realism is bunk, be careful. They may think they are attacking science, but they are often attacking the common floor we all stand on.
Realism is not a religion.
It is everyone’s starting point for honest thinking.