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Absolute IdealismAbsolute Idealism is a metaphysical holistic approach to philosophy. It is classified as a form of monism. Absolute idealism posits that only ideas exist. Fundamentally, all existing objects are "ideas", and there is only one perceiver of all ideas, taken by most idealist philosophers to be God or Godhead. A major assertion of this school is that because only ideas exist, all things are fundamentally one with this mind or spirit, the basis of reality. Religion Absolute idealism has been a consistent favorite standpoint for religious thinkers and philosophers. It is present in the thinking of many important Christian theologians such as Meister Eckhart and is the basis of Advaita Hinduism and several forms of Buddhism, including Zen, Madhyamika, Yogacara, and some interpretations of Pure Land. Criticism Generally speaking, criticisms of absolute idealism come specifically from the standpoint of epistemology. Critics charge that absolute idealism has little or no grounding in reality and question the means by which philosophers come to their conclusions. Major Idealists Georg Hegel; Francis Herbert Bradley; Nagarjuna; Padmasambhava; Meister Eckhart; Paul Tillich See also Sources Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (Garfield); Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Blackburn); A History of Christian Thought (Tillich); From Socrates to Sartre (Lavine)
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