Can we prove reality?

Question

I heard someone make an assertion that *'We cannot really prove that there is reality.'*. *'Reality'* here would mean **the universe and everything in it**. You could look at an apple and think its an apple but it could *really* be something else, and we cannot really prove its "appleness". My initial answer was the mere fact that having a notion for reality is proof enough that there is such a thing. My question is: Is that a sufficient answer? Is there a proof that reality exists? Or is the question a valid one to begin with?

Answer 1

If you consider your own mind to be part of reality, then Descartes' First Meditation can help. Descartes tried to do the same thing you are, find a proof that reality exists--or that anything exists at all. He started by questioning everything he assumed to be true, to the point where he couldn't be sure of anything at all. Except that he realized his own mind/self has to exist, because he has to exist in order to doubt his own existence. (Hence his maxim "I think, therefore I am.") So through Descartes, we can reasonably say that at least something exists.

I don't believe having a notion for reality is enough proof that there is such a thing because one can have a notion for unicorns or something else imaginable but not real, and the mere notion does not necessitate that the thing exists. There is no current widely accepted proof for the existence of reality, and there are many epistemological and metaphysical schools of thought devoted to the debate.

For example, the philosopher GE Moore presented the realist argument: "Here is a hand, here is another. That means there are at least two things in the external world, so the external world must exist." This is convincing to some, while it appears to be question-begging (assumes the conclusion in the premises) to others. On another side of the debate, idealists believe that reality exists only in the mind, and so without one's participation and attention, reality does not exist. On yet another side, anti-realists are often skeptical about reality of any kind, and due to the nature of skepticism, it's very difficult to convince them otherwise.

Here's a helpful source with other schools of epistemological and metaphysical thought if you're interested:

https://www.kylezsembery.com/objective-reality-exist/