Idealismus

Idealismus, term used in various senses in German, including the familiar one of an elevated awareness of moral or social responsibility. It principally denotes the tradition of German philosophy, as developed especially by Kant, Fichte, and Hegel, in which the ideal, as opposed to the material, is conceived as the true reality. The word is further used to describe an important phase in German literature in the years c.1790-1805, when Schiller was both influenced by Kant and in alliance with Goethe. German philosophical idealism, though it has lost many adherents and much of its momentum, has persisted and has influenced some later writers.