Absolute Idealism

Absolute idealism is a philosophical concept that emphasizes the importance of experiences and thoughts in determining reality. It holds that verifiable facts are not the only important aspect of determining what is real and puts forth the idea that to understand people, it is necessary to understand how the world appears to them. Idealism places greater emphasis on human awareness, perception, and thought than on things that can be proven scientifically or mathematically. The originator of absolute idealism, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, claimed that the exercise of reason was the key to self-determination and, therefore, the key to determining reality. The philosophy was popular in nineteenth-century Europe, particularly Germany, and less popular in other areas, including the United States.

Background

Idealism is a philosophical concept that has its roots in ancient Greece. Plato promoted a notion known as Platonic Realism that holds reality is dependent upon thought. He believed, however, that some universal forms are rooted in reality, so, while Plato's teachings contain elements of idealism, they also tend toward realism.

Seventeenth-century French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes believed that the essence of what a person is resides in each person's own consciousness. He made the famous statement, "I think, therefore I am." This emphatically makes the connection between thought and reality.

Irish philosopher Bishop George Berkeley promoted a version of idealism often known as subjective idealism. He believed that what was real about the world was what people perceived. He attributed the fact that many people share perceptions to the influence of a divine being. Berkeley is referred to as the Father of Idealism.

Immanuel Kant was the first of the philosophers known as German Idealists. He proposed that the only reality of the world is the impressions it makes on the mind and that even concepts such as space and time are constructs of thought. His version of idealism is known as transcendental idealism.

Fellow German idealist Hegel went a step further, stating that to claim anything material is real is an error because these objects can only be defined in the context of other material objects. Scholars view his ideas as having been influenced by Kant's. However, Hegel also drew from Plato's teachings, especially the idea that reason is essential to reality.

Overview

Idealism has a number of meanings. It comes from the Greek word idein, meaning "to see," which became the word idea, meaning "form" or "pattern." In everyday usage, idealism means having high standards or expectations. It sometimes has a negative implication, as in stating someone is idealistic as opposed to realistic, meaning the person is expecting more than they should in a circumstance.

In philosophical terms, idealism is a concept that emphasizes thoughts over material objects. As the brief background of idealism indicates, idealism has many forms. Absolute idealism is based on the idea that human reason is sufficient for reality. Absolute comes from the Latin word absolutus, which means "free and unrestricted." The philosophical concept of absolute idealism holds that what people can reason is real without that reality being dependent upon anything else.

Hegel also believed that this idea of the absolute means that regardless of whether people are aware of it, an Absolute Mind or collective consciousness is the reason that people experience reality in a similar way. Hegel also maintained that every mind is capable of understanding every truth, or belief held to be true by many, because truth is a single entity that cannot be divided.

Following Hegel, the concept of absolute idealism was taken up by others in Germany and elsewhere. One significant proponent was F. H. Bradley, a British philosopher. Bradley was not fond of the term idealism, but his beliefs fit the concept. His theory of the Absolute addresses such concepts as evil and errors and makes room for logic and judgment. Bradley said that perceived contradictions in reality need to be resolved by seeking a higher reality.

Bradley and others—such as fellow British philosophers T.H. Green, who became a proponent of social liberalism; social reformer Bernard Bosanquet; J. M. E. McTaggart; and American Josiah Royce—continued to promote absolute idealism through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They also emphasized the importance of human experience in determining reality. Of key importance was the concept that ideals or truths are dependent on the idea of a whole or absolute mind. Royce addressed idealism in several publications. His The Religious Aspect of Philosophy was published in 1885. In this, he claims humankind must have access to a sense that an absolute truth exists. In his 1892 work, The Spirit of Modern Philosophy, Royce addresses the necessity of one having a sense of the meaning behind an idea or concept. His major war was The World and the Individual, two volumes of his lectures in 1899 and 1900.

Absolute idealism continued to be a force in philosophical thought until the middle of the twentieth century. Two former supporters of absolute idealism, British philosophers G. E. Moore and Bertrand Russell, changed course at that time. They began what became known as analytical philosophy, with an emphasis on using logic and experience and a rigid common sense approach to understanding the world and its problems. Precise language became important as a way to avoid ambiguity and define reality.

As the twenty-first century began, analytical philosophy underwent another shift and returned to something closer to absolute idealism. The emphasis returned to the effect of the mental activities of thought and reason in determining reality. John Searle, a twentieth-century American analytical philosopher, proposed that science and materialism do not adequately account for human consciousness and free will and the impact they have on how the reality of the world unfolds.

Bibliography

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Bloom, Robert L., et al. "7. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Absolute Idealism. Pt XII: The Post-Enlightenment Period." Ideas and Institutions of Western Man, Gettysburg College, 1958, pp. 85-110.

Candlish, Stewart, and Pierfrancesco Basile. "Francis Herbert Bradley." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 23 Feb. 2021, plato.stanford.edu/entries/bradley. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

Guyer, Paul, and Rolf-Peter Horstmann. "Idealism." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 5 Feb. 2021, plato.stanford.edu/entries/idealism. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

Redding, Paul. "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 9 Jan. 2020, plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

Sprigge, Timothy. “The Absolute Idealism of Josiah Royce.” The Philosophers' Magazine, archive.philosophersmag.com/the-absolute-idealism-of-josiah-royce. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.