Idealism vs. Realism

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.

Realismnoun

A concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary.

Realismnoun

An artistic representation of reality as it is.

Realismnoun

(sciences) The viewpoint that an external reality exists independent of observation.

Realismnoun

(philosophy) A doctrine that universals are real—they exist and are distinct from the particulars that instantiate them.

Realismnoun

As opposed to nominalism, the doctrine that genera and species are real things or entities, existing independently of our conceptions. According to realism the Universal exists ante rem (Plato), or in re (Aristotle).

Realismnoun

Fidelity to nature or to real life; representation without idealization, and making no appeal to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.

Realismnoun

the practise of assessing facts and the probabilities of the consequences of actions in an objective manner; avoidance of unrealistic or impractical beliefs or efforts. Contrasted to idealism, self-deception, overoptimism, overimaginativeness, or visionariness.

Realismnoun

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

Realismnoun

(philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that physical object continue to exist when not perceived

Realismnoun

the state of being actual or real;

Realismnoun

an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual description

Realismnoun

(philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that abstract concepts exist independent of their names