...IDEALISM IN EDUCATION 01. INTRODUCTION Idealism is the oldest theory of philosophy. Its origin goes back to ancient India in the East and to Plato in the West. Generally, Idealists believe that ideas are the true reality. According to them, the human spirit is the most important element in life. Matter is not real. It attaches great significance to the study of man and his mind. It maintains that the material and physical universe is subordinate to a higher type of reality, a spiritual universe. CHIEF EXPONENTS OF IDEALISM (I) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) The Videc Rishis of India Plato – (427-347 B.C) Kant (1724- 1804 A.D) Hegal (1770-1831 A.D) Froebel (1772 – 1852 A.D) Swami Dyananda (1825 – 1883 A.D) R.N. Tagore (1861-1941 A.D) Aurobindo Ghosh (1872 – 1950 A.D) 02. MEANING OF IDEALISM The word „Idealism‟ signifies two terms: „Idea‟ and „ideal‟. In other words Idealism is born out of Plato‟s “Theory of Ideas”. According to this doctrine, the ultimate supremacy is of ideas. In this way, the real word is „ideaism‟, but adding the letter „I‟ for pronunciation facility it is known as idealism. 03. DEFINITION OF IDEALISM (i) (ii) Views of D.M. Dutta: “Idealism holds that ultimate reality is spiritual”. Views of J.S. Ross: “Mind or spirit is the essential world stuff that the true reality is of a mental character”. (iii) Harold B. Titus: “Idealism asserts that reality consists of ideas, thoughts, minds, or selves rather than material objects and force”. (iv) R.N. Tagore:...
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...One of the clearest examples of the emotion that was poured into the subject matter of Hellenistic sculpture is the Ludovisi Gaul Killing Himself and His Wife. This is a work of art that is overflowing with emotion and expression. The sorrow on the face of the female figure is palpable, her pose indicates complete abandon, and fear as she falls to her own death. The male sculpture looks defiant as he plunges a dagger into his own chest. The depiction is extremely lifelike and is noted for its extreme attention to anatomical detail and accuracy. The expressions on both faces embody the changes that occurred in Greek art, taking it from the completely unimportant archaic smile of the archaic period, to the essential gravity of the emotions in...
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...Movement is both a revolt and revival .This movement in literature and the revolutionary idealism in European politics are both generated by the same human craving for freedom from traditions and tyranny. The Romantic Movement revives the poetic ideals of love, beauty, emotion, imagination, romance and beauty of Nature. Keats celebrates beauty, Shelley adores love, Wordsworth glorifies nature Byron idealizes humanism, Scott revives the medieval lore and Coleridge amalgamates supernatural. As a result, the Romantic Movement revolts against the ideals, principles, intellectualism, aristocracy and technicality of Augustan period and smoothed the run of broad emotional gallery of substance relinquishing the rigidity of ‘form’. From sociological and political perspective it is not unfair to say that Romanticism and French Revolution are synonymous. In fact, Rousseau’s social theory roughly embodies in the familiar phrase of ‘the return to nature’ while the battle cry of French Revolution – liberty, equality and Fraternity – are influential on the youthful imagination of Romantic poets. Rousseau establishes the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit. Rousseau’s sentimental influence touches Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge; his intellectual influence Godwin, and through Godwin Shelly. Byron and Shelley also share the champion of liberty and revolutionary idealism. A wonderful humanitarian...
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...IDEALISM AND EDUCATION A. WHAT IS IDEALISM? In the Idealist tradition, * the spiritual and the ideal are central to man’s experience and to our interpretation of reality * ideas are of ultimate importance: they are primary, matter is secondary (less important) * matter is perceived through senses, which are not always reliable * ideas are only grasped by the mind, and therefore more reliable * whatever is known is known through the mind, in the form of ideas B. THE MAIN TENETS OF IDEALISM Views about reality * only the mental or the spiritual is ultimately real * the world is an expression of a universal Mind * ideas are real, material objects are less real than the ideas that refer to them * the world of the mind and ideas is eternal, permanent, unchanging and orderly * truth and values are absolute and universal (the same everywhere) * a human being has a material body and an immortal soul (mind) * the soul is durable and permanent Views about knowledge * the human mind has latent ideas at birth (ideas that are present, but not developed or fully formed) * Plato believed: knowledge is merely remembering (reminiscence) what is already in the mind * true knowledge is gained through strict mental discipline, mainly through Maths, Philosophy and Logic * senses are important as points of contact with the material world, but they are not always reliable. * the mind is the most important part of a person’s being * whatever...
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...Emerson prefaced the prose text of the 1836 first edition of Nature with a passage from the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus. The 1849 second edition included instead a poem by Emerson himself. Both present themes that are developed in the essay. The passage from Plotinus suggests the primacy of spirit and of human understanding over nature. Emerson's poem emphasizes the unity of all manifestations of nature, nature's symbolism, and the perpetual development of all of nature's forms toward the highest expression as embodied in man. Nature is divided into an introduction and eight chapters. In the Introduction, Emerson laments the current tendency to accept the knowledge and traditions of the past instead of experiencing God and nature directly, in the present. He asserts that all our questions about the order of the universe — about the relationships between God, man, and nature — may be answered by our experience of life and by the world around us. Each individual is a manifestation of creation and as such holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. Nature, too, is both an expression of the divine and a means of understanding it. The goal of science is to provide a theory of nature, but man has not yet attained a truth nbroad enough to comprehend all of nature's forms and phenomena. Emerson identifies nature and spirit as the components of the universe. He defines nature (the "NOT ME") as everything separate from the inner individual — nature, art, other...
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...certain beautiful forms through which it may realise that energy.".[1][2] The philosophy holds that art sets the aesthetic principles by which people perceive life, and does not imitate life. What is found in life and nature is not what is really there, but is that which artists have taught people to find there, through art. As in an example posited by Wilde, although there has been fog in London for centuries, one notices the beauty and wonder of the fog because "poets and painters have taught the loveliness of such effects...They did not exist till Art had invented them.".[1] McGrath places the antimimetic philosophy in a tradition of Irish writing, including Wilde and writers such as Synge and Joyce in a group that "elevate blarney (in the form of linguistic idealism) to aesthetic and philosophical distinction", noting that Terry Eagleton observes an even longer tradition that stretches "as far back in Irish thought as the ninth-century theology of John Scottus Eriugena" and "the fantastic hyperbole of the ancient sagas". Wilde's antimimetic idealism, specifically, McGrath describes to be part of the late nineteenth century debate between Romanticism and Realism.[1] Wilde's antimimetic philosophy has also had influence on later Irish writers, including Brian Friel. Halliwell asserts that the notion that life imitates art derives from classical notions that can be traced as far back as the...
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...answer is succinct: Vietnam is the Sleeping Beauty. You will find out why, just let the story begin. 1. Beauty Once upon a time, there formed in the Southeast Asia, a little but extremely beautiful Princess called Vietnam. Mother Nature was excessively fond of her and gave her the most wonderful gifts that make her a desirable beauty. Indeed, she was placed in a favorable geographic position alongside 3000 km spectacular coastlines and busy sea lanes which open many opportunities to develop tourism and international trading. She has plenty of stunning landscape and picturesque destinations, to name but a few: Saigon (the Pearl of the Far East), Ha Long Bay (world natural heritage), Son Doong Cave (World’s Largest Cave). Plus, Vietnam was generously given a wide variety of natural resources, e.g. minerals, fertile soil, diversified ecosystem… In addition to natural endowments, Vietnam has resourceful human capital: a 90-million population with favorable demographic structure. The working-age population is accounted for more than a half of the whole. Literacy rates are high and Vietnamese are appreciated for their diligence as well as their quick learning ability and high adaptability. The youth, mobility and strong basic skills of the labor force make Vietnam an attractive destination for investors. Furthermore, Vietnamese people share a strong sense of solidarity and a fierce patriotism that help us not only successfully protect our Beauty from foreign invasion but also maintain...
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...Painting with Blue and red Barnett Newman, Voice of Fire, 1967 Owned by the national gallery of Canada, museums try to get these different collections. Very close to Canada culture, shown at the expo 67 in Montréal, the world’s fair. When the work came up for by the widow by the artist, the museum thought, it was a great idea, and offered a much lower price than what she could get at auction. But the how this work defies our expectations in art. One of those are is representation. Art should represent something, it seems to reject and deny it. If the red and blue and been jumbled up it would look like fruit sitting on the table it would look closer to art sitting on the table. But Newman intention in painting thought, it was much more widely accessible, something that everybody can understand. His intention was to create an artistic vocabulary and have a universal appeal. He was hoping to achieve something cross-cultural, but it was naïve on the artist’s part. It’s not just its not representational. It also doesn’t tell a story, that’s what we count on, on art to tell us a story. Although, art can only show you a moment of the story. The newman said he was inspired by the old testament in the bible. How we look at it and bring our own expectations of art is much more literal. He does something symbol. He is representing a timeless essence in the story. I’m showing you the essence of the story. The difference between an art work and the expectations of art. It seems to not show...
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...Emerson is often considered the father of the transcendental philosophical tradition. Transcendentalists believe in three major principles: individualism, idealism and the divinity of nature. The Transcendentalists believed that an individual could “transcend” or go beyond the physical world of the senses into a different world of spiritual experience through free will and intuition. Emerson and the Transcendentalists believed that God was not distant and unreachable, but knowable through our own souls and through a deep connection with nature. The central themes in all of his works were individuality, freedom, human self-realization and relation to nature. In his essay on Nature, Emerson explores the relationship between humans and nature. He asserts that the beauty of nature can be understood by people only when one is in solitude. The true understanding of significance of nature is hindered by the hustle and bustle of daily life. Emerson is of the view that we take nature for granted. For example, we take the stars for granted because we know that they will always be there. However, although they are “accessible” in that they are visible to us, they are also inaccessible due to the distance between us. We can never physically touch them. However, there is an inter-connectedness among the nature, soul and the divine that we miss. “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” He feels that we must view nature from the eyes of a child. A child sees things in new an unbiased...
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...which derived from an inner landscape of his own. Instantly, humankind had begun to change rapidly as the Victorian society, in all its glory and onward march into industrialisation, modernisation, and expansion, developed over society, therefore Hardy frequently demonstrated nature’s superiority over mankind. A noticeable thread which progressively binds various texts is the significant transition and contrast of the natural and manmade world, as Hardy generally demonstrates a continuation of the natural gaining dominance within the setting. Hardy illustrates an apparent contrast in Beeny Cliff among the unchanging persistence and transience of nature and the fragility of humans and their personal relationships. The anaphora, “chasmal beauty”, is specifically meaningful due to the representation of attempting to consume memories. Additionally, the setting of Beeny Cliff, whilst it marks the sharp division and transition of land and sea; Hardy is reminded of the separation between himself and Emma that can never be bridged now that she has gone, therefore occasionally mythologizes elements of their marriage. It is identifiable that the use of colour imagery to produce a vision of the setting as a significant element of their marriage whereby they initially met; is present in all three lines, as “an irised rain”, “dyed” and “stain” and “purples prinked the main and that this is a pointer to Emma’s current status as a spirit that haunts this place. Similarly, “The Ruined...
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...explanations, I found that for myself personally, none of the theories settled quite perfectly for me. There was always a lingering question among the theories as their own separate entities, and so as a believer of a mélange of different ideas and philosophies, I must say that I do not believe that the epistemological gap can be bridged. Plato first began to tackle the epistemological gap by presenting the idea of “Forms”. He insisted that through love here in existence, we are pointed to the perfect forms above, with each step up being a step closer to the higher Forms. He believed that all things in existence participated in the perfections above us. For example, anything beautiful here on earth partakes in the bigger, higher Form of “Beauty” in the heavens. Plato gives the cave parable in his dialectical The Republic to further explain the pathway from denseness to clear. All people on earth view only the shadows reflected off the wall of a cave, while real life is going on outside in the mouth of a cave. Between mankind and the mouth of the cave is a cascading fire that casts the shadows of the real and true Forms outside. Plato mentions a divine creator Demiurge, who shaped the world from preexisting chaos, using archetypal Forms, in which the Forms provided the model for the world. Because Plato believed that the...
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...Karmvir Sidhu ENG 111 - 64 Sandra E. Terry Feb 7, 2011 Sonnet 130: Imperfectly Perfect The secular world is increasingly fixated on the concept of beauty and the pursuit of perfection, however this preoccupation is not unique to the 20th century. While traditional love poems in the 18th century generally focused on glorifying a woman's beauty, Sonnet 130 written by William Shakespeare goes against the conventional culture of love poems and instead describes the realistic nature of his object of affection. In Sonnet 130, the idea of love and is intensely expressed and taken to a greater level of intimacy where beauty lies within an individual and not just on the surface. The allegorical meaning is presented through images that allow the reader to understand the poem beyond its literal meaning. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, the notion of perfection is evaluated to a point where it is almost made irrelevant in relation to beauty and true love. In Sonnet 130, it seems as if William Shakespeare laughs at the idea of idealism and perfection. The expressions of discontent and dissatisfaction give the poem a satiric tone. This poem is written in Shakespearean iambic pentameter, commonly used by Shakespeare in many of his poems. It follows the ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG rhyme scheme. The first 12 lines are all rhyming pairs, followed by the rhyming couplet. In the first 4 lines of the poem the speaker expresses his lady’s lack of perfection and almost complains about how she does...
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...Perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest work, The Great Gatsby is not only a great story, but an insight into the flaws of real life during the "Roaring Twenties." His book has been considered by many a symbol for the "Jazz Age," a time of extraordinary wealth and promise, but Fitzgerald's novel is much more than that, presenting the truth behind the twenties and creating an atmosphere which has earned a permanent place in American literature. Fitzgerald's novel works on many different levels, giving us unforgettable characters and events on one, as well as referring to the problems of American wealth and spirituality on another. However, what is the main point of the book? And most importantly, what on earth is that mysterious green light? Those questions, as well as many others will be answered in this analysis, which will discuss the underlying meaning and symbolism behind The Great Gatsby. "I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone - he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness." (16) So ends the first chapter of The Great Gatsby and brings to our attention the first symbol in this book - that mysterious...
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...to find land and start a family has gradually transformed into a materialistic vision of having a big house, a nice car, and a life of ease. In the past century, the American dream has increasingly focused on material items as an indication of attaining success. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a self-made man who started out with no money—only a plan for achieving his dream. He is so blinded by his luxurious possessions that he does not see that money cannot buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald demonstrates how a dream can become corrupted by one’s focus on acquiring wealth, power, and expensive things. Gatsby’s dream “is a naïve dream based on the fallacious assumption that material possessions are synonymous with happiness, harmony, and beauty” (Fahey 70). His American dream has become corrupted by the culture of wealth and opulence that surrounds him. Gatsby is a “nouveau riche,” and his romantic view of wealth has not prepared him for the self-interested, snobbish, corrupt group of people with which he comes to associate. He throws lavish parties for countless people, yet he has no real friends. Gatsby buys expensive things and entertains large groups of society because of his incommunicable desire for something greater. Nick Carraway realizes that although Gatsby is involved in underhanded business dealings and is fixated on money, he...
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...as well. “When you are old” and “The second coming” are two poems that express trouble and failure in the form of other themes, “when you are old” expresses trouble and failure in the theme of love and age. Love is shown through Yeats’ love for Maud Gonne and age is shown through Maud Gonne as she grows old. “The second coming” expresses trouble and failure in the themes of higher power and history. Higher power is shown through the likes of Jesus and history is shown through the repetitions of the world based on the past. The theme of love in “when you are old” shows Yeats love for Maud Gonne. The quote “How many loved your moments of glad grace, and loved your beauty with love false or true”, explains to us how beautiful she is and how she was admired because of it. He uses alliteration to describe her beauty as one that is not superficial. Yeats’ explains his love for her with the quote “But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, and loved the sorrows of your changing face”, the romantic notion shows Yeats’ love for her is different compared to everyone else, he loved her soul, loves her essence and will even love her when she is old and grey. He loves everything about her, but she does not love him back. This is how trouble and failure within this poem is shown, with all the love he gives and all the heart fulfilled poems he write about and to her, he is still a no body, and his heart is forever crushed. The theme of age is shown in “when you are old” as Yeats’ gives...
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