'Idealism' definitions:
Definition of 'idealism'
From: WordNet
noun
(philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality
noun
Impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are
noun
Elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued [syn: high-mindedness, idealism, noble-mindedness]
Definition of 'Idealism'
From: GCIDE
- Idealism \I*de"al*ism\, n. [Cf. F. id['e]alisme.]
- 1. The quality or state of being ideal. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Conception of the ideal; imagery. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Philos.) 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. [1913 Webster]
- 4. 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. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- 5. 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. [PJC]
Definition of 'idealism'
From: GCIDE
- Maya \Ma"ya\ (m[aum]"y[aum]), n.
- 1. (Hindu Philos.) The name (in Vedantic philosphy) for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Hindu Philos.) the Hindu goddess personifying the power that creates phenomena. --[RHUD] [PJC]
- 3. (Hindu Philos.) the power to produce illusions. --[RHUD] [PJC]
Synonyms of 'idealism'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- absolute idealism,
- animatism,
- animism,
- archetype,
- aspiration,
- autism,
- autistic thinking,
- Berkeleianism,
- bigheartedness,
- bigness,
- chivalrousness,
- chivalry,
- complex idea,
- dereism,
- dereistic thinking,
- dream,
- dreamery,
- elevation,
- errantry,
- eternal object,
- eternal universal,
- exaltation,
- exemplar,
- flight of fancy,
- form,
- formal cause,
- Geistesgeschichte,
- generosity,
- generousness,
- great heart,
- greatheartedness,
- greatness,
- greatness of heart,
- Hegelian idea,
- Hegelianism,
- heroism,
- high goal,
- high-mindedness,
- highest category,
- history of ideas,
- hylozoism,
- ideal,
- ideality,
- idealization,
- ideals,
- ideate,
- ideatum,
- idee-force,
- imaginative exercise,
- immaterialism,
- impracticality,
- innate idea,
- Kantian idea,
- Kantianism,
- knight-errantry,
- knightliness,
- largeheartedness,
- liberality,
- liberalness,
- loftiness,
- magnanimity,
- magnanimousness,
- materialism,
- metaphysical idealism,
- model,
- monistic idealism,
- Neoplatonism,
- nobility,
- noble-mindedness,
- nobleness,
- noosphere,
- noumenon,
- openhandedness,
- panpsychism,
- pattern,
- percept,
- personalism,
- Platonic form,
- Platonic idea,
- Platonism,
- play of fancy,
- princeliness,
- prototype,
- psychism,
- quixotism,
- quixotry,
- reaching high,
- regulative first principle,
- romance,
- romanticism,
- simple idea,
- solipsism,
- spiritualism,
- subjectivism,
- sublimity,
- subsistent form,
- the Absolute,
- the Absolute Idea,
- the realized ideal,
- the Self-determined,
- transcendent idea,
- transcendent nonempirical concept,
- transcendent universal,
- transcendental,
- universal,
- universal concept,
- universal essence,
- unpracticalness,
- unrealism,
- unreality,
- upward looking,
- utopianism,
- visionariness,
- wish fulfillment,
- wish-fulfillment fantasy,
- wishful thinking