BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes

BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes: A2zNotes Presents study material Long Question Answer Notes by the Latest BEd Syllabus for Philosophical and Socialogical Perspective of Education. A Collection of Question-Answers compiled and Edited by A2zNotes Well Experienced Authors Based on Latest Two-Years BEd Curriculum. Here in this post, we will provide you with Long Questions and Answers for the Definition and Meaning of Idealism, Metaphysics of Idealism, Epistemology & Logic of Idealism, Axiology & Ethics of Idealism, and Fundamental Principles of Idealism.

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Meaning and Definition of Idealism

Idealism is the ancient western philosophy. The ray of knowledge blossomed after India, in no other place but in Greece. Greece is the place of origin of western philosophy. Metaphysics had started to develop there several centuries before Christ. Thales (640-550 BC) was the first Greek philosopher in the western world who put forward his logic about the creation of the universe. After him, the Italian philosopher Xenophanes presented his monist thought. He was the first monist and pantheist philosopher of the western world.

After Xenophanes comes the name of Greek philosopher Socrates in the field of western philosophy. Socrates was a person of spiritual ideology, but he limited himself to expressing his thoughts here and there among the young. After him, his pupil Plato (427-347 BC) came into the field of western philosophy. As Plato belonged to the royal family of Greece, he lived luxuriously, but his philosophical thought was influenced by the spiritualistic philosophy of Socrates.

He was the first philosopher of Greece who presented his philosophical thought in an organized and logical manner. Plato accepted the existence of soul and God and considered that God is the creator of this universe, and its basis both. He clarified that this material world is only the manifestation of ideas. He reasoned that the material world is always subject to change, so it cannot be permanent and cannot be a truth, and the world of ideas is not at all subject to any change so it is permanent and is truth. He also clarified that there is a divine and moral order in these ideas. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

After Plato, his pupil Aristotle presented this ideology in his own manner. Along the existence of the world of ideas, he also accepted the existence of the material world. This is the reason that some scholars accept Aristotle as an idealistic philosopher, while some scholars as a realistic philosopher. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

After Aristotle other philosophers took forward this spiritual thought with more or less difference, among whom are Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Kant Fichte, Hegel, Shelling, and Schopenhauer. Except for Aristotle, all these philosophers considered God as the ultimate reality and the creator of the universe. According to these philosophers, the ultimate aim of human life is self-realization which can be achieved only when man abides by the eternal values and moral laws.

In the modem age, the western philosophers who took forward this ideology and used it in the field of education are Swiss philosopher Pestalozzi, German philosopher Herbart and Froebel, English philosopher Nunn, Italian philosopher Gentle, and American philosopher Horn. In order to understand the form of philosophical thought, it is necessary to understand its metaphysics, epistemology, logic, axiology, and ethics. So we would make an effort to understand the metaphysics, epistemology, logic, axiology, and ethics of idealism.

Metaphysics of Idealism

 Plato divided this universe into two parts—the world of ideas and the world of matter. He considered ideas eternal, infinite, and unchangeable. In his view, there is a divine and moral order in the ideas with the help of which God creates this world. Due to his belief in moral order in ideas, his ideology is called Moralistic Idealism. Plato considered the soul to be part of God. According to him, the soul lives in the world of ideas before coming to this world, so it is always desirous of returning to the world of ideas.

Leibniz accepted the existence of an independent spiritual matter ‘monads in every matter. In his view, this world of matter is the sum total of numerous monads. Due to the acceptance of numerous monads, his ideology is called Pluralistic Idealism.

Berkeley opined that the appearance of matter is due to the mind, matter has no independent existence. This ideology of his is called Subjective Idealism. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

Kant considered intellect as the basis of the knowledge of the matter in place of mind, so his ideology is famous name Intellectualism.

On the other hand, Hegel is a dualist. He has accepted the independent existence of both, intellect and matter. According to Hegel, the ultimate form of intellect is God, and He is the creator of the material world. So his ideology is called Absolute Idealism.

One thing on which all idealists have uniform views is that all of them consider the spiritual world as superior to the material world and God as the ultimate reality. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

Epistemology and Logic of Idealism

According to Plato, real or true knowledge is to know the divine order of ideas and the real form of the soul and of God. He has classified the knowledge into three forms-sense organs based, opinion based, and thinking-based. He considered sense organs-based knowledge as untrue because the objects and activities which are perceived by sense organs are all subject to change and as such are false. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

He considered opinion-based knowledge as partly true because it can be estimated and an estimate can be true as well as false. According to him, thinking-based knowledge is true because it is received in the form of ideas and the ideas are unchangeable and permanent and as such are true. Plato has laid emphasis on moral life for the realization of this true knowledge, and on the reasoning for the realization of moral life. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

Thus, in his view, reasoning is the basis of knowledge. Berkeley considered the mind (soul) as the basis of true knowledge. Kant has accepted critical intellect as the basis of knowledge in place of the soul. He reasoned that direct knowledge is disorganized and it is arranged by the critical intellect. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)

Axiology and Ethics of Idealism

According to Plato, the ultimate aim of human life is self-realization. He considered the realization of three eternal values as essential for self-realization-truth, beauty, and goodness, and for the achievement of these values he emphasized the moral life. He has considered it necessary for man to have four good qualities for moral life-self-control, patience, wisdom, and Justice.

He believed that these good qualities are the qualities of the soul, and the more they are realized by a man, the more he proceeds toward the truth, beauty, and goodness, and finally, succeeds in getting self-realization. The idealists such as Berkeley, Kant, and Hegel have emphasized abidance by moral laws. Their moral laws are spiritual laws, higher than natural and social laws.

Definition of Idealism

Different scholars have defined idealism in different ways. It is not possible to present all those definitions. We would like to say one thing about them that they have laid emphasis on one or two fundamental principles of idealism only, they could not present idealism in its complete form. Most western scholars are in agreement with Henderson. In his words:

Idealism emphasizes the spiritual side of man because to the idealists spiritual values are the most important aspects of man and of life. A metaphysical idealist would believe that man’s finite mind springs from the infinite mind, that both the individual and the world are expressions of intelligence, and that the material world is to be explained by the mind.

Stella V. Henderson However, this definition is so complex in itself that each term in it needs analysis. We can define idealism on the basis of its metaphysics, epistemology, logic, axiology, and ethics, as follows:

Idealism is a school of Western philosophy that considers this universe as created by God and accepts the spiritual world as superior to the material world. It considers God as the ultimate reality and the soul as part of God and propounds that the ultimate aim of human life is self-realization, which can be achieved by following moral laws.

Fundamental Principles of Idealism If we want to organize metaphysics, epistemology, logic, axiology, and ethics of idealism in the form of principles, then we can do it in the following way:

1. This Universe is created by God: The idealists believe that there is certainly a creator of this universe, and this creator has no beginning and no end, and its form is spiritual. In the view of Plato, this existence is the God who creates the universe with the help of ideas. According to Hegel, there are two factors responsible for the creation of the universe-super mind (God) and nature (matter). According to him, the super mind creates this universe with matter.
2. Spiritual World is Superior to Material World: Plato has divided this universe into two worlds-world of ideas and the world of matter. He clarified that ideas are eternal and unchangeable, so they are the truth, and the world created with them is also a truth. On the contrary, the matter is temporary and changeable, so it is an untruth and the world created from matter is also an untruth. According to him, this material world is only the expression of the world of ideas. Hegel also agrees with the existence of two worlds-spiritual worlds and the material world. The only difference is that he accepted the existence of matter along side that of the soul. In his view, both worlds are true. However, he considered that the spiritual world is superior than the material world. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)
   
3. The Soul is a Spiritual Factor and God is the Supreme Soul: Though all idealists do not possess uniform views about the soul, some of them consider it to be a part of God and some of them consider it as an independent existence. But all of them hold that the soul is without a beginning or an end. They opined that the soul cannot be experienced by sense organs. It can be understood only by the intellect. They also do not have uniform views about God. Most idealists look at Him as the Supreme Soul. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)
4. Man is the best Creation of the World: Idealists consider man as the best creation of the world. They argue that man possesses physical powers just like other creatures, besides he possesses spiritual powers. These spiritual powers help him in the development of civilization, culture, art, ethics and religion by which his physical life becomes happy and a spiritual environment is created for spiritual experience. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)
5. Human Development depends on his Physical and Spiritual Powers: According to idealists, there are two forms of knowledge-physical and spiritual. They clarified that physical knowledge is begotten by physical power (sense organs) and spiritual knowledge is realized by spiritual power (soul). Thus, the physical development of man is dependent on his physical powers and his spiritual development is affected by his spiritual powers. They clarified that man develops civilization, culture, art, ethics, and religion with the help of spiritual powers, and with their help, he controls his physical environment and attains self-realization. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Idealism Study Material Notes)