Matter Is Not An Illusion

Quantum physics continues to fuel the unverifiable speculation of idealists, who, in some cases, hold that matter is an illusion and that it doesn't actually exist.  This nonsense, though easy to refute, remains popular in circles of people who think that quantum physics will come to mark the end of belief in a material world.  The existence of matter is far from self-evident, as only a very small handful of truths verify themselves.  But matter does exist.  One can prove the existence of matter in full.  As long as the delusions of those who believe that matter is an illusion persist, the need for refuting them will also persist.

The existence of some form of matter is not beyond the ability of
 logic and immediate experiences to establish.

Yet again, I will prove the existence of matter as a physical substance outside of my mind, since the proof refutes any notions of matter being illusory--though it does not disprove the idea that matter cannot exist separately from consciousness.  Proving the former does not prove the latter, regardless of the idealists' insistence.  The facts about the material world that reason can establish are very precise, but there are facts that one can know about it, and this knowledge begins with the awareness that there really is a world of physical landscapes and objects.

If I walk around, stand still, or sit, my sense of touch registers physical sensations.  These sensations can only be produced and received by physical things, since a consciousness without a body, being strictly immaterial, could not generate or experience sensations of a physical nature.  Just as it follows inescapably from the fact that I perceive that I exist as a conscious mind, it follows inescapably and necessarily from the fact that I experience physical sensations that my mind resides in a body of some kind and that I am in contact with matter outside of my body.  At least two material things exist, therefore: my body and some sort of matter beyond it.

There is matter outside of my mind.  This cannot be an illusion, though the appearances of material objects are uncertain to me--I might not be perceiving the material world as it is, but there is a world of matter that I am perceiving.  Likewise, though I cannot know if my body looks in actuality as it appears to me now, I know with absolute certainty that I do have a body.  Perhaps I have two heads, one arm, and four legs.  I cannot prove or disprove any of these possibilities, but the fact that my mind inhabits a shell of matter is wholly proven by my experiences with physical sensations.

Even if matter does depend on perception for its existence, this cannot mean that all of reality is mind-dependent or that my consciousness is responsible for creating everything.  My consciousness cannot be a construct of itself; a thing cannot bring itself into existence, since it would have to exist prior to its own existence to do so: an impossible thing!  Logic cannot be a construct of consciousness, since it exists by necessity in the absence of all minds, including that of God [1].  Even space, the dimension that holds matter, cannot be a construct of consciousness, since it, too, exists by necessity even if there were no minds at all [2].  Many people use the term "reality" in a very limited, incomplete way to refer to the way the external world is, though logic, space, and consciousness are themselves parts of reality that are separate from the external world.

Reality is not only divided into the categories of mind and matter; on the contrary, it is divided into a variety of physical and immaterial things, with all existing material objects, the external world in which they reside, and my body existing in one category, and with logic, space, time, and consciousness existing in the other.  Historical and contemporary philosophers have failed to bring attention to the specifics about metaphysics because errors and incomplete worldviews have always been the norm throughout recorded human history.

The existence of matter is not and cannot be an illusion.  Idealists who say that all matter might be mind-dependent--that is, that if all minds were to cease to exist, then so would physical matter--might be correct.  However, they have absolutely no way to demonstrate this to be true even if it does accurately reflect reality, especially through something as limited as the scientific method or quantum physics.  Logic cannot prove or refute this idea, so it is at best unverifiable and unfalsifiable.  But logic does prove the existence of physical matter: anyone who denies its existence is a liar or highly ignorant.

[1].  See here:
  A.  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-immateriality-of-logic.html
  B.  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-metaphysics-of-logic.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/05/einstein-on-empty-space.html