What is idealism, and what is the difference between subjective and objective idealism?
- this is a philosophy 101 class
- my professor focuses on the book "republic" by Plato
These are the requirements:
• I suggest that you write 3-4 paragraphs for each question. The first 1-2 paragraphs should explain the material. The second 1-2 paragraphs should state your own opinion about it and give some good reasons for your opinion.
• You will be graded on the basis of two considerations: First, did you understand, and could you clearly explain, in detail and in your own words, the material that was presented to you in class and in the readings? You will lose points if you just re-state the lecture notes. Second, did you express an opinion and give a reason for your opinion? Was your reason just a repetition of the ideas that I presented to you in the lecture or in the book? Was it just an unsupported assertion? Or was it an original idea? You will lose points if I cannot find an original idea in your paper, or if you state an idea but do not give any reason for it.
• A better essay is one that is more clearly and precisely written and includes more details and reasons, not just more words.
• Your essays will be submitted to Turnitin.com for originality analysis. Do not submit answers with wording identical to another student. It will be identified and penalized.
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What is idealism, and what is the difference between subjective and objective idealism? How you defend it against the criticism that there is no tangible evidence for ideas and ideas are mere epiphenomenon(effects of material processes)?
Idealism is a metaphysical perception that relates reality to the mind instead of materials. It is the direct opposite of materialism, where there is an overarching inclination towards the physical aspect of mental processes and consciousness or states. Idealism has a substantial emphasis on the mental and spiritual aspects of the experience, where these virtues are regarded as the sentence of humanity. Some of the proponents of idealism include Plato, who advanced significant criticism on the physical world, arguing that the physical world is not real. According to Plato, the ideas of thought and spirituality transcend the physical matter. The tenets of Plato’s argument on idealism are that the physical world exists as a product of our ideas, consciousness, and thinking. Thus, idealism is centered on the observation that mental processes and states precede nature's physical aspects.
Subjective idealism, also called empirical idealism, reflects the metaphysical argument that minds and mental states are items that primarily exist. One clear school of thought on subjective idealism included Berkeley’s idealism, which is marked by reduced reality to spirits to the ideas entertained by spirits. In Berkeley’s philosophy, there is subjectivism by claiming that its objects are ideas in the mind of God. Subjective idealism is a viewpoint that argues that nothing exists except through a perceiving mind. Thus, under this view, the natural world is devoid of real existence, and it only lives in the mind of people who perceive it and in the mind o...