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In section 2.1, I discussed the different types of philosophical Idealism and how they relate to the British Idealist movement. I made clear how subjective, personal, objective and absolute Idealism are similar and different and came the conclusion that many Idealists held an absolute Idealist point of view, but some held a personal Idealist view. While these two movements are quite different in some respects, the personal Idealists found a way to somehow agree with absolute Idealists by stating that the fundamental idea was the same and by having a mutual enemy in naturalism.
In 2.2, I discussed the relation between practical idealism and the British Idealist movement. I first defined practical idealism in both a positive and a negative way, and tried to apply both to the British Idealists. I found that many British Idealists saw an essential relation between philosophy and practice and clarified this by their own attempt to unify theory with practice in their political ideas. They also made clear the ultimate unity between individual and society, which I’ve also made clear in 1.2 where I spoke about morality and political philosophy. Further, I found that most Idealists’ liberal standpoints could be interpreted as an example of practical idealism in the way that they tried to pursue their liberal ideals. I then wondered if the British Idealists could be seen as “excessively idealistic” in that they looked at reality in its ideal state rather than what it is. But by doing so, I discovered there are problems with this question, for this definition of idealism presupposes an objective reality independent of perception, which the Idealists themselves disagree with.