Idealism
Etymology
From "ideal" (Greek "idea," form, pattern) plus "-ism." The word carries two distinct lives: in philosophy it names the doctrine that reality is fundamentally mental, while in everyday use it names the temperament that holds out for high principles — related through the common ancestor "idea."
noun · /eye-DEE-uh-liz-um/
The pursuit of high principles and ideals, sometimes at the expense of what is practical.
What it names
Both a noble orientation toward how things ought to be and its characteristic risk — mistaking the ideal for the achievable.
Example
Her idealism drove the reform, but it took a colleague’s hard bargaining to actually pass it.
Related idea
Idealism orients action by how things ought to be; pragmatism judges action by what actually works — the idealist risks impracticality, the pragmatist risks losing sight of principle, and good judgment usually needs both.
noun · /eye-DEE-uh-liz-um/
In philosophy, the doctrine that reality is fundamentally mental or mind-dependent, rather than material.
What it names
the metaphysical view that mind or ideas are primary
Example
Berkeley’s idealism held that physical objects exist only insofar as they are perceived.
Related idea
Idealism turns Kant’s noumenon — the thing as it is in itself — into either the whole of reality or a needless fiction.
See also