Having a conversation with my friend Todd Littleton the other day prompted me to blurt out this phrase: “The kingdom of God is idealistic.” Having a conversation this past Monday morning with my coach prompted her to force me to explain idealistic. So over the next couple of posts I want to do that, especially in terms of the Kingdom of God
My dictionary on my mac defines idealistic this way:
idealistic |īˌdē(ə)ˈlistik| adjective characterized by idealism; unrealistically aiming for perfection: idealistic young doctors who went to work for the rebels.
The thesaurus (located in the same dictionary app) provides the following:
idealistic adjective some say I’m drawing a wildly idealistic portrait of what the Church can become: utopian, visionary, romantic, quixotic, dreamy, unrealistic, impractical, starry-eyed;fanciful; informal with one’s head in the clouds; chiefly Brit. informal airy-fairy.
When something is idealistic, it characterized by idealism, which means:
idealism |īˈdē(ə)ˌlizəm| noun the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, esp. unrealistically: the idealism of youth.
All of that is based on the meaning of idea. The origin of the word “idea” comes from the late Middle English via Latin from Greek idea ‘form, pattern,’ from the base of idein ‘to see.’
Ideal comes from the Late Latin word ideālis, which means “existing as an idea or archetype.” The earliest recorded use of idealist in English occurs in 1701 in philosopher John Norris’s Essay toward the Theory of the Ideal or Intelligible World, in which he references the Greek philosopher Plato’s “theory of forms.” Plato had posited that everything we perceive is actually a representation of ideal things, but not the things themselves. Idealism gained popularity in various guises in the 18th-century works of philosophers such as Berkeley, Kant, and Hegel.
By the start of the 19th century, the meaning of idealist broadened to describe artists or writers who treated subjects with imagination, in contrast to a naturalist or realist, who depicted a real-world atmosphere in their art. A few decades later, the term was applied to visionaries, and soon after to people who were so imbued with an ideal that they failed to see the world for what it is.
But today, the word can be a two-edged sword: if a person calls herself an idealist she very likely means it positively, as in the pursuit of a higher good. However, if somebody else calls her an idealist, that person can mean that she is impractical or naive.
Do I think the Kingdom of God is an ideal? Am I an idealist if I believe in what the Kingdom of God describes? Yeah, on both counts, at least in the origin of the term.
And yet, some might even call me an idealist in the modern sense of the term…As if I am naive.
Call me as an idealist then. Why? Idealism inspires.
More coming in the next post.
Good thoughts and discussion. Here are some thoughts on Idealism from an Education perspective:
The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the philosophy of idealism as “any view that stresses the central role of the ideal or the spiritual in the interpretation of experience” (Robinson, 2013). As an early childhood educator, the learner has been involved in providing experiences to and for her students so they can gain ownership of their learning and educational journeys. When young students are involved in their learning, then they are more apt to accomplish and achieve desired outcomes. During the younger pre-kindergarten years of education, classroom play-based learning has a large impact on student ownership. Teachers understand the need for play in the classroom; however, parents must be more strongly convinced of this need. “While teachers and parents generally expressed support for play in the preschool curriculum, parents were more likely to cite specific skills as indicators of readiness” (Hatcher, 2012). Parents want to see their children having classroom experiences and having fun, but they often fail to see that they are learning while playing.
Teachers must train parents as well in the educational practices of young
children and the reality that they are learning and accomplishing the necessary
skills for school readiness.
One strength of students taking ownership of their learning environments and
activities allows students to work to understand what they are learning, how
they are learning, and why they are learning the material rather than being fed
the material in rote or lecture form. They are presented with a hands-on
approach to learning in which they can discover and explore the material at
their own level. A weakness of this method of learning is the great deal of
preparation time demand on teachers, as they must provide different learning
methods to meet the different learning styles of students. This experiential
learning technique allows students to become collaborative learners along with
teachers to accomplish developmental milestones and standards. Hatcher, B. (2012).
Kindergarten Readiness and Preschools: Teachers’ and Parents’ Beliefs
Within and Across Programs. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 14(2). Retrieved from http://capella.summon.serialssolutions.com/search?s.q=idealism+in+early+childhood
Robinson, D. (2013). Idealism. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/281802/idealism
[…] at my site that focuses on ministry, I began a series of posts about idealism and the kingdom of God. Essentially this is a post about vision, leadership, and motivation. In this first post, I look at […]