this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
279 points (97.3% liked)

Memes

49991 readers
1674 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

I don't think that's the meaning OP is going for. In philosophy, idealism is the position that ideas exist independently of materials, or even that ideas are the true reality and the material world is either false or just a reflection of it. Many religions argue for some form of idealism.

Materialism, in contrast, is the idea that the material world is the primary one, and that ideas are at best descriptions of materials. Marxists and physical scientists hold this view. Finally, dualism is the idea that there is both a material and an ideal (i.e. 'of ideas', not 'perfect') world. Descartes is probably the most famous proponent of this school.

In the modern age, pretty much all serious thought accepts materialism, often implicitly, to the point that the material world is often called the 'real world' or even 'the world'. But this was not always so, and there are still relics of idealist and dualist thinking.