Belief that only mental entities are real, so that physical things exist only in the sense that they are perceived Berkeley defended his "immaterialism" on purely empiricist grounds, while Kant and Fichte arrived at theirs by transcendental arguments German, English, and (to a lesser degree) American philosophy during the nineteenth century was dominated by the monistic absolute idealism of Hegel, Bradley, and Royce Recommended Reading: David Berman, George Berkeley: Idealism and the Man (Oxford, 1996) {at Amazon com}; German Idealist Philosophy, ed by Rudiger Bubner (Penguin, 1997) {at Amazon com}; The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism, ed by Karl Ameriks (Cambridge, 2001) {at Amazon com}; John Foster, The Case for Idealism (Routledge, 1982) {at Amazon com}; and Current Issues in Idealism, ed by Paul Coates and Daniel D Hutto (St Augustine, 1997) {at Amazon com} Also see OCP, IEP, BGHT, ISM, ColE, DPM, CE, noesis, and MacE
The practice or habit of giving or attributing ideal form or character to things; treatment of things in art or literature according to ideal standards or patterns; opposed to realism
a theory that affirms that the spiritual, mental, and ideal is of central importance in reality Idealists often hold that reality itself is essentially spiritual or the embodiment of mind or reason
Idealism is the theory that the only things that exist are minds and their contents, e g pains, beliefs, desires, sensations of sounds, afterimages Although "idealistic" is often used in ordinary speech to describe persons who have 'ideals', i e ambitions to better themselves or the world at large, this is not the sense of "idealism" being used in this book Here, "idealism" is the name of a metaphysical thesis which contrasts, in the first instance, with materialism (See also "materialism" )
the view that the existence of objects depends wholly or in part on the minds of those perceiving them or that reality is composed of minds and their states There are many varieties of idealism, ranging from Plato's doctrine of independently existing ideas or forms to Berkeley's subjective idealism and Hegel's absolute idealism Kant attempted to combine empirical realism with transcendental idealism
(liberalism): An approach to international relations that emphasizes international law and international organizations over military force alone Also emphasizes the latent power of everyday citizens and grass-roots organizations Based on the anti-nationalist idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, can belong to a single community with universal human rights Exemplified in the United Nations Charter
Generally the view that there aren't, or can't be, material objects existing independent of thought E g Berkeley thought that only minds existed There is some disagreement as to whether phenomenalists should be labeled "idealists" Generally "idealism" has now unfavorable connotations so its use as a label is often just an expression of distaste
The artistic theory or practice that affirms the preeminent values of ideas and imagination, as compared with the faithful portrayal of nature in realism (Compare Classicism, Imagism, Impressionism, Metaphysical, Objectivism, Romanticism, Symbolism)
Idealism is the beliefs and behaviour of someone who has ideals and who tries to base their behaviour on these ideals. She never lost her respect for the idealism of the 1960s + idealist idealists ideal·ist He is not such an idealist that he cannot see the problems. In metaphysics, the view that stresses the central role of the ideal or the spiritual in the constitution of the world and in mankind's interpretation of experience. Idealism may hold that the world or reality exists essentially as spirit or consciousness, that abstractions and laws are more fundamental in reality than sensory things, or, at least, that whatever exists is known to mankind in dimensions that are chiefly mental that is, through and as ideas. Metaphysical idealism asserts the ideality of reality; epistemological idealism holds that in the knowledge process the mind can grasp only its own contents. Metaphysical idealism is thus directly opposed to materialism, and epistemological idealism is opposed to realism. Absolute idealism (see G. W. F. Hegel) includes the following principles: (1) the everyday world of things and persons is not the world as it really is but merely as it appears in terms of uncriticized categories; (2) the best reflection of the world is in terms of a self-conscious mind; (3) thought is the relation of each particular experience with the infinite whole of which it is an expression; and (4) truth consists in relationships of coherence between thoughts, rather than in a correspondence between thoughts and external realities (see coherentism). See also George Berkeley
The system or theory that denies the existence of material bodies, and teaches that we have no rational grounds to believe in the reality of anything but ideas and their relations
An artistic theory in which the world is not reproduced as it is, but as it should be All flaws, accidents and incongruities of the visual world are corrected
The doctrines taught by Idealists Subjective idealism, taught by Fechte (2 syl ), supposes the object (say a tree) and the image of it on the mind is all ore Or rather, that there is no object outside the mental idea Objective idealism, taught by Schelling, supposes thatthe tree and the image thereof on the mind are distinct from each other Absolute idealism, taught by Hegel, supposes there is no such thing as phonomers, that mind, through the senses, creates its own world In fact, that there is no real, but all is mere ideal These are three German philosophers: Hegel (1770-1831) Schelling (1770-1854) Fechte (1762-1814)
impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are (philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality
{s} of or pertaining to idealists, principled, living according to some standard of perfection; of or pertaining to idealism, of the tendency to form ideals, of the pursuit of high and noble goals
of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; "an exalted ideal"; "argue in terms of high-flown ideals"- Oliver Franks; "a noble and lofty concept"
If you describe someone as idealistic, you mean that they have ideals, and base their behaviour on these ideals, even though this may be impractical. Idealistic young people died for the cause. believing that you should live according to high standards and principles, even if they cannot really be achieved, or showing this belief realistic