Idealism PowerPoint

What is Idealism??? Some philosophers hold that if we push our investigation of matter far enough, we end up with only a mental world. Such philosophers are called idealists Idealism- the belief that reality is essentially idea and mind rather than matter Idealism emphasizes the mental and spiritual, NOT the material

Idealist Philosophers In the West, Idealism dates as far back as Pythagoras (600 BCE) Plato first formalized idealism through his “Theory of the Forms”

Idealist Philosophers St. Augustine wrote about a city of God He argued that what is real is the spiritual world; the flesh is only temporary Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all perfection, of all forms

George Berkeley, the Idealist Berkeley is the founder of modern Idealism. He reacted against materialist philosophers like Hobbes. Berkeley claimed that only the conscious minds and ideas/perceptions are reality The world is not external to or independent of the mind The external world is a collection of perceptions we mistakenly call physical reality

Berkeley’s Idealism Berkeley’s Idealism included two elements: objective and subjective Subjective- all we know are our own ideas Objective- Independent of our perceptions; ideals exist in an objective state Berkeley said we find out about things of the world through experience For Berkeley, all the things we perceive around us are nothing more than bundles of our perceptions

Berkeley and Perception Berkeley argued: If we carefully examine the knowledge we have of objects around us, we see that the only knowledge we have of such objects consists of the perception/sensation we have of them in our minds

Example of Berkeley’s concept of Perception Berkeley argued that all objects are bundles of perceptions For example, a certain color, taste, smell, figure and consistency go together, and are one distinct thing, given by the name apple. Because perceptions can exist only in a mind, all objects exist only in the mind, and there is no independent material reality outside the mind.

Berkeley on Perception We may think that in addition to our perceptions, an external world of material objects exists However, the only basis we have for these claims about the material world are perceptual experiences, and these exist entirely in the mind Therefore, the mind MUST exist and reality consists only of the mind and its contents

Berkeley and God Berkeley thought that there are two different kinds of ideas in the mind 1) Short-lived, changeable, and within our control. 2) Other ideas are more enduring, and are not within our control. For example, the landmarks around us, whether buildings or nature, which are not within our control. From where do the other ideas derive their uniformity, and continuity if it is not from you. Berkeley thought that this could only be explained as the work of another supreme mind: the mind of God. He thought that God produced in our minds these orderly perceptions we call the external world, and it is God who produces this stability. This version of Berkeley’s idealism is objective idealism. It allows us to view the universe as an intelligent system because it is the product of a mind.

Eastern Idealism Vasubanbhu- similar to Berkeley, they believed you could reach the truth through meditation (Yogacarin) Vasubanbhu- mind-only doctrine, which argued that we do not directly perceive objects around us, we are actually perceiving the sensation in our minds Objection- Why does everything seem to happen in a specific position in space and at a specific point in time?

Eastern Idealism He pointed to what happens in dreams So why can we tell our dreams are not the real world? We wake up are realize it is not Similarly, while we are in this illusionary dream world we think it is real but can awaken our minds through meditation and ethical living

Objections to Idealism Idealism assumes that the universe has an order and a purpose…What about natural disasters and tragedy? Fallacy of “anthropomorphism”-attributing human qualities to non-human entities, especially God

Objections to Idealism Objections to Idealism Subjective idealism- since perceptions are perceived and not objects, this doesn’t answer the question of what things are (rules out objective knowledge) Objective idealism- explains why perceptible things persist in the mind and offers intelligible world system World is intelligible because it is a product of God’s mind, but how are we to know God’s mind?

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