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Difference Between Idealism and Realism
Difference Between Idealism and Realism
Realists are basically conservative people who follow the conventions of the
society and thus, are more secure socially. Idealists, on the other hand, are
nonconformists who are most likely to revolt against the set norms.
Idealism is a theory of the futurists. While, realism is the theory, of the
people who live in the present.
Idealists aim for perfection. They set high goals for themselves and others.
They believe that humans have vast potential, which should be harnessed
properly to achieve excellence. Realists, on the other hand, settle for
mediocrity. Realists only aim for achievable targets. That is why, to expect
something extraordinary from them is out of question.
Realism, on the other hand, is based on the view that students should learn about
the world and the universe by studying science and mathematics. The focus is on
making the students understand that reality is in the physical world, that is, what
we see around us. Realism emphasizes on providing factual information to the
students and teaching them the laws of the nature. The teacher presents the
subject very systematically to the students. There is a standard curriculum, which is
taught to all the students. Moral lessons are taught in the form of certain rules,
which all the students have to follow. Focus is on education through
experimentation and critical, scientific thinking.
Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or
proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in
the practical consequences of accepting it, and that unpractical ideas are to be rejected.
Pragmatism originated in the United States during the latter quarter of the nineteenth century.
Although it has significantly influenced non-philosophers—notably in the fields of law,
education, politics, sociology, psychology, and literary criticism—this article deals with it only as
a movement within philosophy.
The term “pragmatism” was first used in print to designate a philosophical outlook about a
century ago when William James (1842-1910) pressed the word into service during an 1898
address entitled “Philosophical Conceptions and Practical Results,” delivered at the University
of California (Berkeley). James scrupulously swore, however, that the term had been coined
almost three decades earlier by his compatriot and friend C. S. Peirce (1839-1914). (Peirce,
eager to distinguish his doctrines from the views promulgated by James, later relabeled his own
position “pragmaticism”—a name, he said, “ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers.”) The third
major figure in the classical pragmatist pantheon is John Dewey(1859-1952), whose wide-
ranging writings had considerable impact on American intellectual life for a half-century. After
Dewey, however, pragmatism lost much of its momentum.
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in pragmatism, with several high-profile
philosophers exploring and selectively appropriating themes and ideas embedded in the rich
tradition of Peirce, James, and Dewey. While the best-known and most controversial of these so-
called “neo-pragmatists” is Richard Rorty, the following contemporary philosophers are often
considered to be pragmatists: Hilary Putnam,Nicholas Rescher, Jürgen Habermas, Susan
Haack, Robert Brandom, and Cornel West.
The article’s first section contains an outline of the history of pragmatism; the second, a selective
survey of themes and theses of the pragmatists.
MEANING OF EXISTENTIALISM -:
There are numerous ways to analyse the currents of existential thinking. As a
system of philosophy or a school of thought, existentialism is a revole against
traditional metaphysics. As a theory of human development, it is an approach to
highlight the existence of being the process of becoming. Since a person, in the
becoming state, always exists in a constantly dynamic phase, “his life may be
regarded as a journey on which he finds ever newer experiences and gains greater
insights.”
EXISTENTIALISM DEFINED -:
Various definitions of existentialism have been proposed by different authors.
The peculiarity of existentialism, according to Blackham is that, “it deals with the
separation of man from himself and from the world, which raises the question of
philosophy not by attempting to establish some universal form of justification which
will enable man to readjust himself but by permanently enlarging and lining the
separation itself as primordial and constitutive for personal existence.”12