[M.D. Holloway]

From a realist vantage point, truth not only is a useful conceptual category but also it does actually exist within material reality itself. For the realist, the question of truth is neither a. simply that what is true corresponds to what is real whereas what is false corresponds to what is not, nor b. there is no truth or falsity, but only myriad different truths and falsities that vary from one conceptual scheme to another, one field of intellectual inquiry to another, one domain of language use to another. Realism contends that knowledge does correspond more or less adequately and accurately to what really exists, and therefore is more or less true. And yet, realism also contends that the false is that which corresponds to something else in reality other than that to which it purports to correspond and which always exists as it does for some real and necessary reason. As an illustration of this point, let us recall Marx's Critique of prior Critiques of Religion in the famous passage from The Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right where he proclaimed religion to be the opiate of the masses.

The main point of this passage is not, however, to critique religious belief but rather to critique the inadequacy of prior atheist critiques of religious belief. As Marx indicates, it is not enough to say religion is illogical and irrational because there is no proof that God exists or that there is any afterlife in an entirely different and much better world; what is needed instead is a critique which can explain why something so seemingly illogical and irrational is so pervasively accepted as "true," and exercises as much power and influence as it does. Marx concludes that this is because religious belief corresponds to what makes useful sense in dealing with living in an illogical and irrational world, and with what compensates for the pain and hardship of such an existence. Until the social and historical conditions, therefore, which necessitate religious belief are transformed, religious belief will continue to be necessary and will continue to respond to real needs in vital and effective ways.