The facts must speak for themselves, and mere difficulties do not constitute impossibilities. The facts must assuredly be accounted for, and that theory alone should be accepted as true which gives the most natural explanation of the data in their entirety. Now, the most natural and most general explanation is the one which claims that my perceptions reveal my body as an existent reality. This view is in agreement with the spontaneous conviction of men in all ages. Even the educated and intelligent, notwithstanding their knowledge of physics and psychology, accept the reality of their own body as an indubitable fact, because this view alone harmonizes with everyday practical life.
Idealism puts no bread into the mouth of the starving and eases no pain in the sick.
But a theory that cannot be lived, that must be contradicted by every unphilosophical act of daily life, must be essentially wrong. This view also agrees with empirical science. Here again, some scientists may be idealists in theory, but in every practical issue they are realists. After this indirect argument, we must consider the direct evidence of consciousness. Consciousness must be essentially free from error in all matters of which it has immediate intuition.