2 meanings
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1 —as in:
youthful idealism
Definition
the belief that behavior should be guided by high ideals or standards and often that good things will result — sometimes used to imply that such beliefs are unrealistic- We are all inspired by her strong idealism.
idealism = the belief that behavior should be guided by high ideals or standards
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.Carl Jung
- Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.David T. Wolf
- At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political ideas.Aldous Huxley
- Romance may be called Idealism in the realm of sentiment.Fletcher, Robert Huntington -- A History of English Literature
- How could I explain my idealism to this man?London, Jack -- The Sea Wolf
- It sharpened idealism, stirred the soul.Forster, E. M. -- Howards End
- I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system—that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- My grandmother, LaRue, had come of age in the 1950s, in the decade of idealistic fever that burned after World War II.Tara Westover -- Educated
- He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
idealist = someone who unrealistically believes that behavior should be guided by high ideals and standards
idealistic = having the belief that behavior should be guided by high ideals or standards
idealism = belief that behavior should be guided by high ideals or standards
2 —as in:
philosophical idealism
Definition
the philosophical theory that there is no reality outside of ideas- In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant distinguished his transcendental idealism from Descartes's Sceptical Idealism and Berkeley's Dogmatic Idealism.
idealism = the philosophical theory that there is no reality outside of ideas
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Idealism dominated 19th-century Western philosophical thought.
- We can begin to state the difference between realism and idealism in terms of this opposition of contents and objects.Russell, Bertrand -- The Analysis of Mind
- I enrolled in every course I could squeeze into my schedule, from German idealism to the history of secularism to ethics and law.Tara Westover -- Educated
idealism = the philosophical theory that there is no reality outside of ideas
idealism = the philosophical theory that there is no reality outside of ideas