ABSTRACT
According to metaphysical realism, a razor-sharp distinction must be drawn between the reality and the appearance of a physical object: between the tree as it is apart from the reader, on the one hand, and the tree as it appears to their in perception, on the other. Modern European philosophers tend to present what they call “metaphysical realism” as if it were little more than a pedantic re-statement of what sane human beings have always and everywhere believed about the nature of things. Some beliefs about trees and rocks will qualify as foundational if objects are identified with presentations, since the latter are known immediately. Defenders of common sense should reject realism, Schopenhauer concludes, because idealism is the only alternative to skepticism. According to Schopenhauer, however, trees and rocks cannot be distinguished in thought from “mere” perceptions or presentations.
