Idealism versus Realism

There are two ways to live life.  The scale of idealism possesses two mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed endpoints that very strongly influence the way that you think about everything in life.  Everyone falls somewhere on this scale, and it seems advantageous to me to know where you fall and where everyone that you know falls.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to both end points, but I believe that realism is the superior position to hold, assuming you can hold purely to realistic thought.

Wikipedia describes idealism as "the philosophical theory which maintains that the ultimate nature of reality is based on the mind or ideas."  A more practical definition of idealism is that it is a philosophy that the world exists as I want it to be. Idealism is a currently prevailing philosophical underline in almost every single person that I know today.  You can generally tell the idealist by how they view the world and treat other people.

Likewise, realism is defined in the Wikipedia as, "the belief that our reality is completely ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs, etc."  Realism stands in opposition to idealism and is the philosophy that the world exists, and I must perceive it as it is.




I have listed some qualities that I have observed of each philosophy below.

Idealists are often described as optimists, because they see good in the world regardless of what the actual state of the world may be in.  This produces the nearly inextinguishable hope for the future.  Idealists also tend to believe that all human beings are inherently good.  Which has extremely weighty consequences for how you view Christianity, regardless of whether you believe it or not.

However, idealism has another edge that can be extraordinarily devastating.  When reality strikes an idealist in the face, the result can be a swing beyond realistic thought into cynicism or despair.  When their "reality" breaks down, it is often too much for some people to handle, so they typically resort to some form of realism.

A realistic person is often referred to as a pessimist, but pure realism is only as pessimistic as the current situation in the world warrants.  Realists however are immune to the breaking of the imaginary world that they have set up for themselves, since they disallow themselves from setting up such a view of the world to begin with.  They also have the distinct advantage in a situation to be able to see through any, intentional or unintentional, smoke and mirrors that may be present.  Of course, this ability to see, often allows a realistic person to manipulate an idealistic person.

The disadvantage of realism is that you must be aware of and protect yourself from cynicism and despair, for these two are easy paths to tread down from a realistic position, particularly in a world that is not in an optimal state.

It may be possible for someone to switch between one view and the other flexibly during a lifetime; but from my experience, people typically hold one view or the other as an overarching philosophical thought pattern.

I am a realist, how about you?