Idealism, in philosophy, any view that stresses the central role of the ideal

or the spiritual in the interpretation of experience. It 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 in dimensions that are chiefly mental—through
and as ideas.
Thus, the two basic forms of idealism are metaphysical idealism, which
asserts the ideality of reality, and epistemological idealism, which holds that
in the knowledge process the mind can grasp only the psychic or that its
objects are conditioned by their perceptibility. In its metaphysics, idealism is
thus directly opposed to materialism—the view that the basic substance of
the world is matter and that it is known primarily through and as material
forms and processes. In its epistemology, it is opposed to realism, which
holds that in human knowledge objects are grasped and seen as they really
are—in their existence outside and independently of the mind.
As a philosophy often expressed in bold and expansive syntheses, idealism
is also opposed to various restrictive forms of thought: to skepticism, with
occasional exceptions, as in the work of the British Hegelian F.H. Bradley;
to logical positivism, which stresses observable facts and relations and
therefore spurns the speculative “pretensions” of every metaphysics; and
sometimes to atheism, since the idealist sometimes extrapolates the concept
of mind to embrace an infinite Mind. The essential orientation of idealism
can be sensed through some of its typical tenets: “Truth is the whole, or the
Absolute”; “to be is to be perceived”; “reality reveals its ultimate nature
more faithfully in its highest qualities (mental) than in its lowest (material)”;
“the Ego is both subject and object.”

Idealism is the category of philosophical systems that claim reality is

dependent upon the mind rather than independent of the mind. Or, put
another way, that the ideas and thoughts of a mind or minds constitute the
essence or fundamental nature of all reality.

Extreme versions of Idealism deny that any 'world' exists outside of our minds.
Narrower versions of Idealism claim that our understanding of reality reflects
the workings of our mind first and foremost - that the properties of objects
have no standing independent of the minds perceiving them.
If there is an external world, we cannot truly know it or know anything about
it; all we can know are the mental constructs created by our minds, which we
then (falsely, if understandably) attribute to an external world.

Theistic forms of idealism limit reality to the mind of God.

Important Books on Idealism

The World and the Individual, by Josiah Royce

Principles of Human Knowledge, by George Berkeley
Phenomenology of Spirit, by G.W.F. Hegel
Critique of Pure Reason, by Immanuel Kant

Important Philosophers of Idealism

Plato
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Immanuel Kant
George Berkeley
Josiah Royce

What is the "Mind" in Idealism?

The nature and identity of the "mind" upon which reality is dependent is one
issue that has divided idealists of various sorts. Some argue that there is some
objective mind outside of nature, some argue that it is simply the common
power of reason or rationality, some argue that it is the collective mental
faculties of society, and some focus simply on the minds of individual human
beings.

Platonic Idealism

According to Platonic Idealism, there exists a perfect realm of Form and Ideas
and our world merely contains shadows of that realm. This is often called
"Platonic Realism" because Plato seems to have attributed to these Forms an
existence independent of any minds. Some have argued, though, that Plato
nevertheless also held to a position similar to Kant's Transcendental Idealism.

Epistemological Idealism

According to René Descartes, the only thing that can be known is whatever is
going on in our minds - nothing of an external world can be directly accessed
or known about. Thus the only true knowledge we can have is that of our own
existence, a position summed up in his famous statement "I think, therefore I
am." He believed that this was the only knowledge claim which could not be
doubted or questioned.

Subjective Idealism

According to Subjective Idealism, only ideas can be known or have any reality
(this is also known as solipsism or Dogmatic Idealism). Thus no claims about
anything outside of one's mind have any justification. Bishop George Berkeley
was the main advocate of this position, and he argued that so-called "objects"
only had existence insofar as we perceived them - they were not constructed of
independently-existing matter. Reality only seemed to persist either because
of people continuing to perceive objects or because of the continuing will and
mind of God.

Objective Idealism

According to this theory, all of reality is based on the perception of a single

Mind - usually, but not always, identified with God - which then
communicates its perception to the minds of everyone else.

There is no time, space, or other reality outside of the perception of this one
Mind; indeed, even we humans are not truly separate from it. We are more
akin to cells that are part of a larger organism rather than independent beings.
Objective Idealism started with Friedrich Schelling, but found supporters in
G.W.F. Hegel, Josiah Royce, and C.S. Peirce.

Transcendental Idealism

According to Transcendental Idealism, developed by Kant, this theory argues

that all knowledge originates in perceived phenomena which have been
organized by categories. This is also sometimes known as Critical Idealism and
it does not deny that external objects or an external reality exists, it just denies
that we do not have access to the true, essential nature of reality or objects. All
we have is our perception of them.

Absolute Idealism

According to Absolute Idealism, all objects are identical with some idea and
the ideal knowledge is itself the system of ideas. It is also known as Objective
Idealism and is the sort of idealism promoted by Hegel. Unlike the other forms
of idealism, this is monistic - there is only one mind in which reality is created.
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