what do you think about idealism?

Question

are you an idealist or not? explain. are idealists admirable or naive in your opinions?

Answer 1

Well, idealists are both admirable and naive. They see life as it could be, or as they wish it was, rather than as it is. Not such a bad thing maybe. Perhaps their positive energy could make good things happen. Pessimists see the world as worse than it is and may often bring about their own worst fears through a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you believe, you create...the problem with idealism is that sometimes reality is harsh & can slap you in the face and how do you deal with it when your great hopes are dashed to the ground?

I'd like to think I'm a realist. At times I can be pessimistic, other times a bit of a dreamer but on the whole I think I'm rather pragmatic and see things as they are. No better, no worse.

When people ask the question, is the glass half-full or half-empty, I say it depends. If you had an empty glass & poured into it, filling it half way, then it's half full. If you had a full glass & then poured out or drank half of it, then it's half empty. That's the realistic answer.

Idealists are looking at the clouds & pessimists at the ground. It's better to look straight ahead, with an occasional glance up & down as need be. You don't miss anything that way.

Answer 2

I am an idealist until my ideals stop pertaining to reality. Then I become a pragmatist... So, Socialism, maybe, but never Communism. Universal healthcare, sure, but Universal health, never. UN Peacekeeping? Yeah, I'll go for that too. But World Peace is a "not-gonna-happen", and nationbuilding is too far out in right field.

The world needs idealists to tell us what the perfect world would be like. How else will we know what to shoot for? We need goals, however unattainable they may be. Let the dreamers dream...

Answer 3

Idealism, theory of reality and of knowledge that attributes a key role to the mind in the constitution of the world as it is experienced. Different versions and applications of idealism are discernible in the history of philosophy. In its most radical and commonly rejected form it is equivalent to solipsism, the view that reality is nothing but the activity of one’s own mind and that nothing really exists or can be known to exist but one’s own mind and its thoughts. The idealist, however, usually gives full recognition to the external, or natural, world, avoiding any claim that it can be reduced to the mere process of thinking. The mind, on the other hand, is active and, indeed, is able to produce and sustain modes of being that would not otherwise exist, such as law, religion, art, and mathematics. Furthermore, the way that natural objects exist in human experience is affected by the activity of the mind, and attention to this influence is essential if inquiries concerning the world are to be scientific.

Answer 4

Idealism is fantasy. Nothing in this world is really absolute and idealism deals only with absolutes.
Sometimes, idealism is not merely naive, it is a clever camouflage for unwarranted ulterior motives - only sometimes. Often, an idealist is a young teenager still to see and understand life in its totality and its ever changing colours. Idealism is enthusiasm without intelligence and wisdom.

Answer 5

I'm often accused of being a utopianist...sort of the same thing...and in many ways I am naive and an idealist...

It...in my opinion... is so easy to behave in a positive way...but people seem to choose the hard way... and I think people have to learn by being shown the hard way first...then they eventually choose the easier way...after all the damage has been done....lol...