"Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical idealism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entirely a mental construct; or that ideas are the highest form of reality or have the greatest claim to being considered 'real'."
A philosophical approach that affirms the reality of ideas and their fundamental importance in understanding the world, often contrasted with materialism or physicalism.
Metaphysics: The study of the ultimate nature of reality and existence, including the relationship between mind, matter, and spirit.
Epistemology: The study of how knowledge is acquired, including the role of perception, reason, and intuition.
Immanuel Kant: German philosopher who developed a critical philosophy that rejected both empiricism and rationalism, and emphasized the importance of the human mind as an active participant in the creation of knowledge.
Transcendentalism: An American philosophical movement that emphasized the power of the individual to understand and experience the divine in nature and human experience.
German Idealism: A philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th century, focusing on the human mind as the source of reality, and involving the works of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, and Schopenhauer.
Absolute Idealism: The idea that the universe and everything in it is a product of the human mind, and therefore, is ultimately subjective and not objective.
Dualism: The idea that reality is composed of two distinct substances, such as mind and body, that are separate and distinct from each other.
Phenomenology: A philosophical approach that seeks to understand and describe the core essence of human experience, including how we perceive the world around us, and the role of consciousness in shaping our understanding of reality.
Existentialism: A philosophical movement that emphasizes individual freedom and choice, and the search for meaning and purpose in a world that can seem meaningless and absurd.
Postmodernism: A philosophical movement that challenges the idea of objective truth, and emphasizes the role of power and social construct in shaping our understanding of reality.
Platonic Idealism: This theory states that the physical world is only a shadow of the true reality, which is the world of ideas or the realm of the Forms.
Neoplatonic Idealism: This philosophy believes in the existence of one supreme being that created the world, and everything in it is an emanation of this ultimate reality.
Transcendental Idealism: This view is based on Immanuel Kant's philosophy and asserts that the mind structures our experience of the world, creating the appearance of an external reality.
German Idealism: This philosophy emphasizes that the mind plays a central role in constructing reality and that there is an ideal or spiritual realm that underlies physical reality.
Absolute Idealism: This theory claims that reality is an interconnected whole, in which all things are interdependent and inseparable from the ultimate reality of the Absolute.
Subjective Idealism: This view asserts that the world we experience is entirely dependent on our mental states and is not independent of our minds.
Objective Idealism: This theory claims that the world is composed of mental entities or ideas that have a real existence independent of our minds.
Personal Idealism: This philosophy posits that the ultimate reality is a personal God who created the world and maintains it through his divine will.
Process Idealism: This view asserts that reality is in a constant state of flux, and the world is a process of self-creation and self-realization.
Phenomenalistic Idealism: This theory states that reality is entirely composed of ideas or sense data, and there is no reality beyond the perception of the individual.
Idealistic Dualism: This philosophy posits that both mind and matter have an equal claim to being real, but the mind has priority over the physical world.
Buddhist Idealism: This view asserts that reality is a combination of the mind and the world. Still, the mind is the primary element that creates and interprets the world, leading to the illusions of the self and the external world.
Hindu Idealism: This philosophy believes in the existence of a supreme consciousness that creates and sustains the world, and all living beings are interconnected and part of a singular consciousness.
Christian Idealism: This view asserts that reality is created by the transcendent God, who is both immanent and transcendent, and the physical world is the manifestation of the divine will.
"The radical latter view is often first credited to the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato as part of a theory now known as Platonic idealism."
"Besides in Western philosophy, idealism also appears in some Indian philosophy, namely in Vedanta, one of the orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, and in some streams of Buddhism."
"Epistemologically, idealism is accompanied by philosophical skepticism about the possibility of knowing the existence of any thing that is independent of the human mind."
"Ontologically, idealism rejects the perspectives of physicalism and dualism because neither perspective gives ontological priority to the human mind. In contrast to materialism, idealism asserts the primacy of consciousness as the origin and prerequisite of phenomena."
"George Berkeley's subjective idealism proposed that physical objects exist only to the extent that one perceives them and thus the physical world does not exist outside of a mind."
"Immanuel Kant's transcendental idealism proposes that objects of experience rely upon their existence in the human mind that perceives the objects."
"Kant's philosophy would be reinterpreted by Arthur Schopenhauer and by German idealists such as J.G. Fichte, F.W.J. Schelling, and G.W.F. Hegel. This tradition, which emphasized the mental or 'ideal' character of all phenomena..."
"Indian philosophers proposed the earliest arguments that the world of experience is grounded in the mind's perception of the physical world."
"Hindu idealism gave panentheistic arguments for the existence of an all-pervading consciousness as the true nature, as the true grounding of reality."
"The Yogācāra school, which arose within Mahayana Buddhism in India in the 4th century AD, based its 'mind-only' idealism to a greater extent on phenomenological analyses of personal experience."
"The most influential critics of both epistemological and ontological idealism were G. E. Moore and Bertrand Russell, but its critics also included the new realists."
"The attacks by Moore and Russell were so influential that even more than 100 years later 'any acknowledgment of idealistic tendencies is viewed in the English-speaking world with reservation.'"
"However, many aspects and paradigms of idealism did still have a large influence on subsequent philosophy."