Idealism is the tendency to idealize reality and on the other hand, it is the philosophical position that affirms that the external world is an idea originating from the mind of man or a supernatural being. In other words, it refers to all the theories that state that the external world does not exist independently of the human mind.
With regard to the etymology of the word, when we speak of idealism we mention the propensity to present things as perfect or better than they really are. It responds to a psychic process that tends to investigate something or someone, of qualities that it does not possess in a certain way.
In idealism, the ego is considered as the authentic constituent factor of reality, and the values of the irrational, of feeling and of tradition are exalted. This idealistic theory is the opposite of the materialist theory. For material nature is nothing but a Non-I "put" by the I as a consequence of its internal dynamism.
The entire real structure is derived from the dialectical game between the Self and its manifestations, a game governed by the morality of duty, since, ultimately, phenomena are but "sensitized materials of duty."
In its most radical and often rejected form, idealism is equivalent to solipsism; which is the metaphysical belief that the only thing one can be sure of is the existence of his own mind, and the reality that apparently surrounds him is unknowable and may not be more than part of one's own mental states.
However, in a usual way, the idealist fully recognizes the external or natural world, and avoids claiming that it can be reduced to mere thinking.
There are two main varieties of idealism: objective and subjective. The objective idealism holds that ideas exist by themselves and we can only learn and discover them. Theories contained in this variety include that of Plato, Leibniz, Hegel, Bolzano, Dilthey, and Frege.
The subjective idealism maintains that ideas exist only in the mind of the subject; that there is no autonomous external world. There are the theories of Berkeley, Kant, Fichte, Mach, Cassirer, and Collingwood.
It should be noted that science and technology do not approve of any version of idealism; both assume the external world and therefore explore and modify it.
