Figmentalism (idealism) versus realism
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Figmentalism (idealism) versus Realism
Plato is generally considered to be the first Idealist but may only be the first recorded as such. His "ideas" where translated and came down to us through history and much of the original thinking has been lost through this process and probably partly by deliberate misinterpretation by his polar opposites the "Realists".
Many poets, philosophers and artists have since expounded their own "Idealism" and been labeled with a variety of adjectives such as "natural Idealist" and other terms that do little service to the actual thinking of the author. If the reader comes across these terms for the first time they would likely have no idea what philosophy this relates to. To further complicate matters, realist and other authors discussing these works in a scholarly manner have so clouded the issues with convoluted definitions that much of the actual information is meaningless, especially to the casual reader or average person.
The word Figmentalism is a quite natural term that has been used for many years in literature without real definition. It is not usually found in any dictionary or encyclopedia. Realists do not like the word because it is too direct and easily defined but perhaps it better explains what Plato was on about.
Simply put Realists believe that humans were derived from insentient matter that existed both before them and will continue to exist after they are gone. Figmentalists, however, do not believe in any such thing. Everything is imaginary, no "matter" actually exists and all of existence is a figment.
