Some common terms used that relate to axiology are pessimism, optimism, hedonism, egoism, and altruism. Epistemology is concerned with theories of the nature of knowledge. The answer may depend upon the philosophical school of thought to which the educator most closely adheres. It would be more correct to label idealism as idea-ism. Developing the mind is the goal of the idealist.
Idealists favor studying facts and ideas about the past as a sound mental activity.
They believe the curriculum should focus on the classics and basics. A summary of the views held by idealists and others toward various aspects of education is found in Figure 1. A simple way to describe the various schools of philosophical thought is to examine how each school would view a simple object such as a chair. An idealist would view a chair as not being real. A chair can be dismantled or burned and would no longer exist.