Idealism

Idealism is a school of philosophy that emphasizes that “ideas or concepts are the essence of all that is worth knowing” (Johnson et. al., 2011, p. 87). Based on the writings of Plato, this school of philosophy encourages conscious reasoning in the mind. Furthermore, idealists look for, and value, universal or absolute truths and ideas. Consequently, idealists believe that ideas should remain constant throughout the centuries.

Platonic idealism

Platonic idealism is the theory that the substantive reality around us is only a reflection of a higher truth. That truth, Plato argued, is the abstraction. He believed that ideas were more real than things. He developed a vision of two worlds: a world of unchanging ideas and a world of changing physical objects.

Plato did not believe that people created knowledge, instead they “discovered it” (Johnson et. al., 2011). In his book, The Republic, Plato talked about two worlds: the spiritual or mental world and the world of appearance. Reacting against what he perceived as too much of a focus on the physical and sensory world, Plato called for education to “develop in the body and the soul of the pupil all the beauty and all the perfection he is capable of.” (Cohen, 1999, p. 1).

Other key philosophers of Idealism are Socrates (whose work is known through his student Plato) and Immanual Kant.

Source 1: Psychology Wiki

Source 2: Social Foundations

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Plato was a deep-thinking philosopher, who wondered deeply about the world around him and found wisdom in Idealism.

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