Idealism vs. Pragmatism

Idealismnoun

The property of a person of having high ideals that are usually unrealizable or at odds with practical life.

Idealismnoun

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.

Idealismnoun

(philosophy) An approach to philosophical enquiry, which asserts that direct and immediate knowledge can only be had of ideas or mental pictures.

Idealismnoun

The quality or state of being ideal.

Idealismnoun

Conception of the ideal; imagery.

Idealismnoun

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.

Idealismnoun

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.

Idealismnoun

a belief in the feasibility of the implementation of ideal principles and noble goals, and the practice or habit of pursuing such goals; - opposed to realism and cynicism.

Idealismnoun

(philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality

Idealismnoun

impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are

Idealismnoun

elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued

Idealismnoun

the unrealistic belief in or pursuit of perfection

Idealismnoun

(in art or literature) the representation of things in ideal or idealized form.

Idealismnoun

any of various systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind.

Idealism

In philosophy, idealism is a diverse group of metaphysical views which all assert that is in some way indistinguishable or inseparable from human perception and/or understanding, that it is in some sense mentally constructed, or that it is otherwise closely connected to ideas. In contemporary scholarship, traditional idealist views are generally divided into two groups.

Pragmatismnoun

The pursuit of practicality over aesthetic qualities; a concentration on facts rather than emotions or ideals.

Pragmatismnoun

(politics) The theory that political problems should be met with practical solutions rather than ideological ones.

Pragmatismnoun

(philosophy) The idea that beliefs are identified with the actions of a believer, and the truth of beliefs with success of those actions in securing a believer's goals; the doctrine that ideas must be looked at in terms of their practical effects and consequences.

Pragmatismnoun

The quality or state of being pragmatic; in literature, the pragmatic, or philosophical, method.

Pragmatismnoun

(philosophy) the doctrine that practical consequences are the criteria of knowledge and meaning and value

Pragmatismnoun

the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth

Pragmatismnoun

a pragmatic attitude or policy

Pragmatismnoun

an approach that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes.