IDEALISM • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Idealism

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/aɪdˈilɪzəm/ Listen

Idealism

noun

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

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

Elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued. Synonyms: high-mindedness, noble-mindedness.

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Etymology of 'Idealism'

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"Idealism" Quotes from Famous Books

... any particular Institution. To do any of these things would be to wrong the theory of fiction as I understand it, which is not to offer mock history or a substitute for fact, but to present a thought in the form of a story, with as much realism as the requirements of idealism will permit. In presenting the thought which is the motive of "The Christian" my desire has been to depict, however imperfectly, the types of mind and character, of creed and culture, of social effort and ...

— The Christian - A Story • Hall Caine

... doing so; this definition leads straight to the concept of false opinion, a thing whose object both is and is not. "That which is not" provokes an inquiry into what is, Being. Dualism, Monism, Materialism and Idealism are all discussed, the conclusion being that the Sophist is a counterfeit of the Philosopher, a wilful impostor who makes people ...

— Authors of Greece • T. W. Lumb

... perhaps be told that my extravagant idealism is out of place in a book on elementary education. To this possible reproach I can but answer, ...

— What Is and What Might Be - A Study of Education in General and Elementary Education in Particular • Edmond Holmes

... degradation of his own country as well as that of Austria. [Footnote: See below, Chapter XVI.] He might even have perceived that a personal despotism, built by bloodshed and unblushing deceit, was hardly proof against a nation stirred by idealism and by a consciousness of its own rights ...

— A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1. • Carlton J. H. Hayes

... dreamers forming the innocent extreme of the Nihilist fraternity—such have been the leading professors of Gospel Anarchy. One can, even while condemning them, respect them for their purity of purpose, their lofty idealism, their sincerity, and their consistency in following their false premiss ...

— Freedom In Service - Six Essays on Matters Concerning Britain's Safety and Good Government • Fossey John Cobb Hearnshaw

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