True or False: Reid believed he was a direct realist because he thought perception directly reflected reality.

The assertion regarding Reid's belief in being a direct realist is indeed accurate. Thomas Reid posited that perception is an immediate response to the external world, meaning that our sensory experiences are directly linked to the actual properties of objects in that world. Unlike representational theories, which assert that perception involves a mediated experience or an internal representation of external reality, Reid’s stance is that our perceptions, insofar as they are sincere and grounded in the underlying reality, provide accurate information about the world as it is perceived.

Reid's view is grounded in the notion that we have direct access to the objects around us through our senses, and this approach supports his philosophical objective of defending common sense and the validity of human perception against skeptical challenges. By embracing the idea that our perceptions accurately represent reality, Reid essentially claims a form of direct realism, whereby the external world influences our sensory experiences without the filter of significant distortion or mediation.

Therefore, identifying his perspective as direct realism reliably captures his philosophical stance on perception and reality.