Idealism (philosophical movement)

In philosophy, a theory that affirms that mind or the spiritual ideal archetype is of central importance in the interpretation of experience. It holds that the world or reality exists essentially as spirit or consciousness, and that abstractions and laws are more fundamental in reality than sensory things. Idealism is thus directly opposed to materialism, which is the theory that the basic substance of the world is matter and that it is known primarily through and as material forms and processes. Idealism is also opposed to the philosophy of realism, which holds that in human knowledge objects are grasped and seen as they really are in their existence outside and independently of the mind.