Idealism

Note

I think focusing on ideas like materialism and idealism is more likely to just cause confusion over terms then to actually improve understanding of the differences between anarchism and Marxism. I plan on eventually scrapping or entirely rewriting this page.

In Marxist theory, idealism refers to the belief that our world is determined by our ideas and consciousnesses. It's antithetical to materialism and associated with reactionary worldviews, up to and including fascism.

That said, the Marxist framing is a bit dogmatic in my opinion, and it's easy for idealism to get conflated with social constructionism, which I'm a huge fan of and find perfectly compatible with materialism.

Fascism is Idealist

Many scholars have noted that fascism relies on what Umberto Eco describes as mythic truths: ideas presented as unquestionable and universal. These will often involve ideas surrounding nationalism or stereotypes. They will question and attack the truth if it gets in the way of the mythic truths they are trying to uphold and legitimize.

Fascists often claim to restore a lost, idyllic past. Their leaders are elevated as embodiments of the people's will. They are protected by the idea of the mythic truths, rendering them unquestionable. Roger Griffin calls this "palingenetic ultranationalism": a belief in national rebirth through authoritarian renewal.

This is why fascist regimes throughout history have always been anti-intellectualist. Any form of nuance or empirical critique that questions these mythic truths are threats to be delegitimized and discarded.

Constructivism is not Idealist

Constructivism argues that material reality does exist, but we only have our subjective experience of it. That instead of there being a concept of objective truth, we have only a constructed view of that truth, always imperfect and shaped by our societal context. That everything from language, race, gender, and so on are not essential forms of our being but fluid, contextual, and shaped by our lived experiences.

Crucially, our societal context and lived experiences are in turn shaped by our material conditions. Our shared social context manifests in, and is reinforced by, policies, infrastructure, and institutions. Constructivism is arguing we are products of our environment, a materialist perspective. It is not anti intellectualist just because it argues concepts like race and gender are socially constructed.

Constructivism is not arguing that objective reality doesn't exist, or that reality itself is a product of our mind. Constructivism affirms that truth exists, but is never accessed outside of context - and context is material. I say all this because the way ProleWiki, a wiki for describing Marxist ideas and theories, introduces idealism like this:

Idealism is a philosophical outlook based on the principle that all reality—including matter—is a product of the mind. Idealists assert that nothing objectively exists but is completely subjective. The weight of a rock, for example, might feel heavy to a child but light to an adult. Thus, idealists say, there is no objective truth to the world but only the subjective experience of it and following this logically, the world can't exist outside of the human experience of it.

And framing it this way made me feel like they were describing constructivism, and I had to read much more before being confident constructivism is, in fact, materialist. I really think that paragraph is misleading to someone who already considers themselves a constructivist. Instead of equating subjectivity with idealism, I'd use solipsism or similar instead. The experience of holding a rock is indeed subjective and shaped by the context of our own strength, amongst other things, but a constructivist still argues the rock exists independent of those experiences.