ABSTRACT
Metaphysical realism has a pragmatic foundation, and viewed from this angle, reals are not the product of inquiry but a requisite for its possibility. Realism serves many purposes. Commitment to a mind-independent reality can be validated plausibly on a pragmatic basis. The preceding deliberations point clearly in the direction of a pragmatic justification of realism via its role in discourse and communication. Our commitment to realism is the instrumentality that makes possible a certain practical modus operandi. The primary validation of that crucial objectivity postulate at issue in metaphysical realism roots in its basic functional utility in relation to cognitive aims. The ideal of objective reality is the focus of a family of convenient regulative principles—a functionally useful instrumentality that enables us to transact our cognitive business in the most satisfactory and effective way. In seeking for the most plausible rationale for realism, enter the region of pragmatic presuppositions retrojustified through their applicative and implementational efficacy.
