Objective Idealism

One of the basic forms of idealism. Objective idealism and subjective idealism are the two basic forms of idealism. Objective idealism regards the origin of the world as an objective spirit independent of nature and human consciousness (such as God, idea, absolute spirit, etc.) and holds that the actual world is only the alienation and expression of the objective spirit. Neo-Confucian Cheng-Zhu Learning of “Principles” (lixue) in the Song Dynasty, Plato’s “idea” in the ancient Greece and German philosopher Hegel’s “absolute spirit” are all objective spirits which are regarded as the origin of the world.

Consciousness is the reflection of matter by human brain, and there is no consciousness apart from objective objects and man who reflects the objects. Objective idealism divorces the consciousness of man from the objective objects it reflects and from man as the reflector, and absolutizes consciousness, which has relative independence, and regards it as the origin of the world. The “objective spirit” of objective idealism is a fiction, in fact a product of the absolutization of general concepts, considers concepts engendered by human abstract thinking as independently existing substances, as divorced not only from the human brain but also from the world, and further deifies, thus treats them as the creators of the world. Objective idealism thus tends to develop into mystical creationism and religious fideism.