Most Important Fundamental Principles of Idealism are given below:
1. Idealism Believes in the Universal Mind:
Besides the physical or material universe, there is also a spiritual universe which is permeated by the Universal Mind of God. He is the Creator and others are the created. Human mind is a part of the Universal Mind and is dependent of Him. God or the Universal Mind is the source of all human values and the goal of all human activities is the realization of this Universal Mind is one’s own self.
Upanishads provide the fundamental theme of Indian idealistic thought—the divinity of man and the spiritual principle governing cosmos:
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The following table illustrates the classification.
Philosophies
Monism – Dualism – Pluralism
Materialism – Idealism – Pragmatism
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Naturalism
Mechanistic – Biological – Physical
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He who sees all beings in the very Self, and the Self in all beings, feels no hatred by virtue of that realization,
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God is one. He is supreme and true. He is the creator free from fear and inborn self-existent and the enlightener.”—Jap Ji.
2. Idealism Regards Man as a Spiritual Being:
Idealism believes that man is a mere animal. He is essentially a spiritual being whose chief aim is to develop his spiritual nature. It is this spirituality that distinguishes man from other lower creatures. The underlying principle of the idealistic philosophy is “Mind or spirit is the essential world stuff and that mind is not merely brain and its activity, but is in itself a real thing.” Reality is found in the mind of man and not in the external world.
Upanishads proclaim the identity of universal soul (Brahman) and the individual soul (Atma). Vedanta explains the same, and teaches how to realize self as the ultimate (3T? The self is to be seen (3TCTT 3TT? qsqr :). That is the ultimate goal of life according to Indian idealism. In the domain of spiritualism, there is no room for competition, hypocrisy and jealously. There is only brotherhood of man and fatherhood of God.
3. The World of Ideas and Values is more important than the world of Matter:
Idealism has full faith in eternal values which never change. They can neither be created nor destroyed. According to Plato, the outstanding eternal values are Truth, Goodness and Beauty. They are exactly similar to the attributes of God as expressed by the sages and seers of ancient Indian in the words. Man cannot create these values.
He can only discover them if he tries. According to idealism, “Everything which we truly judged to be good or beautiful is so because it partakes of the nature of Absolute Goodness or Beauty. It is Absolute Beauty which makes all beautiful things, beautiful. ”
Shankaracharya even objects to the reality of the physical world. To Kant and Schpenhauer the objective world does not exist apart from the subjective thought. Matter may be a projection of mind, or even a creation of mind.
4. Real knowledge is perceived in mind:
The knowledge which is gained through the activity of mind is more important than the knowledge, acquired through senses.
5. Stress on the Principle of Unity of Diversity:
Idealists stress on the Principle of Unity in Diversity. They believe that implicit in all the diversities is an essential unity. Prof. H. N. Home says, “An idealistic philosophy of education, then, is an account of man finding himself as an integral part of universe mind.”
6. Importance of Personality Development:
Idealists give very’ importance to the ‘Self of the individual. Hence they insist upon the fullest development of the personality of an individual. The development of personality means achievement of perfection. According to J. S. Ross, “Thus the grandeur and worth of human life at its best are emphasized by Idealism. Human personality is of supreme value and constitutes the noblest work of God.”