Idealism vs Realism
The difference between realism and idealism, as it is usually fixed for ordering and classification of philosophy is not related to the nature of things. (Instead of "realism," sometimes use the term "materialism." Nevertheless, idealism, too, is matter. At the same time, if you insist on the term "materialism" instead of "idealism" should, apparently, to use the term "formalism".
In fact, this distinction is to understand the basis of the answer to the question: "What comes first - the reality of the material world, nature or idea, mind, spirit? »However, what does this "primary"? After all, the world of consciousness and correlative (and reality and, accordingly, as a concept) and cannot exist or be interpreted in isolation from each other. This means that none of these principles - neither the world - nor I cannot be regarded as the first. Without peace - no consciousness, unconscious - no world. The question of the primacy here is a ill-posed.
However, if the difference of realism and idealism cannot be defined in terms of "primary" - or rather, this definition is not something strictly philosophically correct - what does it consist of?
Turning to the question of the relation of consciousness and the world (ie, what is called "experience"). In this regard, consciousness as comprehending the beginning can be understood in three ways:
Consciousness can be understood passively only as comprehending the beginning - as a "mirror" that reflects the fact that there is - the reality (realism, the theory of reflection).
Consciousness can be understood as the active principle, the activity is reflected in the fact that consciousness, "before" any comprehension, participates in the formation of the picture of reality (ie, what it perceives) (idealism). (Actuspurus, 2007)
Comprehension of consciousness itself, regardless of whether you understand reality as something that was originally prepared as in realism, or each time formed in the experience of both the idealism, there is the active principle of knowledge - transfer of the real (the world) in a perfect (knowledge). In fact, the activity of consciousness (knowledge) there is a certain comprehension of the installation. This setting and organizes granted in accordance with the capabilities and objectives of knowledge. For example, physics makes installation on the comprehension of movement, biology - life forms, the hunter - traces and signs production, etc. (Actuspurus, 2007)
Because of this difference of realism and idealism, it follows that in order for the other - remains the same statement of the presence of some givens. However, they differ in the interpretation of its status. Realism considers this reality as the reality itself, which is only comprehend a realist. Idealism indicates that this reality is organized in the world, due to certain subjective conditions of the possibility of experience itself. In other words, for the idealist world is not just something given, but something a certain way subjectively generated during the experiment. (Actuspurus, 2007)
It is impossible to imagine things so that idealism - this view of reality as illusion. This view is not at all philosophical. Idealism only captures the reality that we perceive there is something in the formation of givens, which involved our consciousness. This does not mean that the reality is arbitrary (ie is subject to the arbitrariness of our will). Rather, it is that this reality is understood as a kind of structure and shape, which is also in the experience of consciousness, is formed and perceived.
At the same time, idealism incorrectly considered as the beginning of a creative mind, the creative world, following the example of God (of yourself or anything). Consciousness does not create the world, but its orders in accordance with the features of their way of understanding, and then (according to paragraph 4.3) the purposes of cognition (its mission statement). Idealism was set the task to explain how knowledge is possible, ie perfect design real. To account for the possibility of knowledge (see. Eg, Kant) idealism and started a discussion givens as something in whose formation is already involved, and consciousness itself. For realism to explain the possibility of knowledge - a big problem, because the transition from reflection to his knowledge of the real (ie ideal) for realism, generally speaking, is not justified.
References
Actuspurus, (2007). The difference between realism and idealism. Philosophy storm.
