Philosophy provides a rich ground for thought. One way or another, we are all philosophers. After all, each of us at least once thought about the meaning of life and other issues of life. This science is an effective toolkit of mental activity. As you know, any kind of human activity is directly related to the activity of thought and spirit. The whole history of philosophy is a kind of confrontation between idealistic and materialistic views. Different philosophers look at the relationship of consciousness and being in different ways. The article considers idealism and its manifestations in a subjective and objective sense.
General concepts of idealism
Focusing on an active creative role in the world of an exclusively spiritual principle, idealism does not deny the material, but speaks of it as a lower level of being, a secondary principle without a creative component. The theory of this philosophy leads a person to the idea of self-development ability.
In the philosophy of idealism, the directions are formed: objective and subjective idealism, rationalism and irrationalism.
Idealism is a philosophical theory that assigns an active role to the ideal principle endowed with a creative component. Material is made dependent on the ideal. Idealism and materialism do not have uniform concrete manifestations.
Such directions as objective and subjective idealism also have their manifestations, which can also be distinguished into separate directions. For example, the extreme form in subjective idealism is solipsism, according to which we can reliably talk only about the existence of a personal "I" and our own feelings.
Realism and Irrationalism
Idealistic rationalism suggests that the basis of all things and knowledge is the mind. His branch - panlogism, claims that everything real is embodied by reason, and the laws of being are subordinate to the laws of logic.
Irrationalism, which means unconscious, is the denial of logic and reason, as an instrument of cognition of reality. This philosophical theory claims that the main way of cognition is instinct, revelation, faith, and similar manifestations of human being. Being itself is also considered from the point of view of irrationality.
Two main forms of idealism: their essence and how they differ
Objective and subjective idealism have common features in the idea of the beginning of all being. However, they differ significantly among themselves.
Subjective - this means belonging to a person (subject) and dependent on his consciousness.
Objective - indicates the independence of a phenomenon from the human consciousness and the person himself.
Unlike bourgeois philosophy, which has many separate forms of idealism, socialist Marxism-Leninism divided it into only two groups: subjective and objective idealism. The differences between them in his interpretation are as follows:
- the objective takes as the basis of reality the universal spirit (personal or impersonal), as a kind of supra-individual consciousness;
- subjective idealism reduces knowledge of the world and being to individual consciousness.
It is worth emphasizing that the difference between these forms of idealism is not absolute.
In class society, idealism has become a science-like continuation of mythological, religious and fantastic ideas. According to materialists, idealism absolutely inhibits the development of human knowledge and scientific progress. At the same time, some representatives of idealistic philosophy reflect on new epistemological questions and study the forms of the cognition process, which seriously stimulate the emergence of a number of important problems of philosophy.
How did objective and subjective idealism develop in philosophy?
Idealism has been forming as a philosophical trend for many centuries. His story is complex and multifaceted. At different stages, it was expressed in various types and forms of evolution of social consciousness. He was influenced by the nature of the changing formations of society, scientific discoveries.
Already in Ancient Greece, idealism was exposed in the main forms. Both objective and subjective idealism gradually gained their supporters. The classical form of objective idealism is the Platonic philosophy, the peculiarity of which is a close relationship with religion and mythology. Plato believed that they are unchanging and eternal, in contrast to material objects that are subject to change and destruction.
In the era of the ancient crisis, this connection is strengthened. Neoplatonism begins to develop, into which mythology and mysticism are harmoniously interwoven.
In the Middle Ages, the characteristics of objective idealism become even more pronounced. At this time, philosophy is completely subordinate to theology. Thomas Aquinas played a large role in the restructuring of objective idealism. He relied on distorted Aristotelianism. After Thomas, the basic concept of objective-idealistic scholastic philosophy became the non-material form, interpreted by the target principle of the will of God, who wisely planned the final world in space and time.
What is materialism expressed in?
Idealism subjective and objective is the exact opposite of materialism, which states:
- the material world is independent of one’s consciousness and exists objectively;
- consciousness is secondary, matter is primary, therefore, consciousness is a property of matter;
- objective reality is a subject of knowledge.
The founder of materialism in philosophy is Democritus. The essence of his teachings is that the basis of any matter is an atom (material particle).
