IDEALISM. In philosophy, the theory that no reality is independent of consciousness. Its ordinary antithesis is realism, or the theory that the reality of things is not dependent upon their relation to consciousness. The motif of idealism can best be understood by contrasting idealism with agnosticism or skepticism (q.v.), which admits the existence or at least the possibility of reality in independence of consciousness, but denies the possibility of knowing such reality. A typical skeptic, such as Hume, admits that we do know the contents of our own consciousness. Most skeptics, among them Hume, go to the ex tent of formulating laws in accordance with which these contents appear and vary. But all this knowledge, satisfactory as it is in its own sphere, is knowledge only of phenomena, or of ideas in the Lockean sense of the word. Skep ticism is thus idealistic in its epistemology or theory of knowledge, while anti-idealistic or non committal in its ontology (q.v.). The idealist escapes skepticism by refusing to take into con sideration the possibility of the existence of a non-ideal reality. The realist asserts the exist ence of the non-ideal reality which the skeptic either admits or doubts without denying, but usually the realist also asserts the possibility of knowing that reality. Thus the idealist and the realist are antagonistic, both in epistemology and ontology, while the skeptic sides with the idealist in epistemology and yet refuses to take sides against. the realist in ontology. Idealism
has taken numerous forms. Among these may be mentioned subjective idealism, which assigns only subordinate reality to the content of consciousness and ultimate reality only to the conscious subject (Berkeley and Fichte) ; objective idealism, which interprets nature as reason made an object to it self (Schelling) absolute idealism, which assigns ultimate reality only to the unity consisting of both object (contents) and consciousness in indissoluble correlation (Hegel) ; and transcen dental idealism, which regards the world of ex perience as dependent for its order upon the ac tion of a conscious subject working in accordance with laws of thought, but which at the same time denies that ultimate reality is dependent upon such action (Kant). For a criticism of idealism, see KNOWLEDGE. THEORY OF; and see also PLATO; PLOTINUS ; NEO-PLATONISSI ; BERKELEY; KANT ; FICHTE; SCHELLING ; HEGEL; LOTZE; GREEN, THOMAS HILL. Consult: Willmann, Ge schichtc des ldcalismus (Brunswick, 1894-97), and the authorities referred to under KNOWLEDGE, THEORY OF ; METAPHYSICS.
For the question of idealism in literature, see ROMANTICISM ; REALISM AND NATURALISM.