How the Presence of Evil Leads to Scientific Realism

Aftermath of WW2 bombing. Wikimedia Commons

Idealism says the mental is primary and in some versions, constitutes all of reality. Realism says there is an external reality beyond ourselves and our perceptions. What best describes our world?

Most of us, children of the ancient Greeks, believe in a form of realism. That is, the world we see, taste, smell, hear and touch is outside of us, it is accessible to our fellow…