ОБЪЕКТИВНАЯ ИДЕЯ

Objective Idea

The highest generic concept in idealism which not only possesses objective reality but also determines sensory being. According to how the relationship between the objective idea and objective reality is interpreted we distinguish:

(1) the dualistic theory of the objective idea, most consistently represented in the Megarian school which asserts that the essence of things is special ideal reality, in no way related to sensory being;

(2) the monistic theory of the objective idea which uses such concepts as the "imitation" of things by ideas, the "presence" of ideas in things, stressing the determining influence of the ideal world on the sensory world. In one form this monism (see Plato) speaks of the influence of the independent ideal world on reality. In another form (see Hegel) this monism denies any difference at all between ideas and things, and objective things are conceived as logical categories in their development;

(3) the emanation theory (see Stoics, and Neo-Platonism) which teaches that the primary substance (primary fire of the Stoics, Primary One of the Neo-Platonics) emanates into the entire sensory world, which arises and takes shape with the help of the objectively ideal primary principle.

Dialectical materialism denies the primacy of the ideal principle. The idea is a reflection of matter, that is, it has an objective content. Therefore, it is possible to speak of the real existence of ideas, which are recorded in different forms of social consciousness and are objective as regards their content and also in relation to the mind of the individual. But in this case, too, the objective idea is a subjective reflection of material reality, although it actively influences this material reality itself for the purpose of transforming and developing it.