Linguistic analysis , another school of thought influenced by Wittgenstein, also broke with traditional epistemology. Linguistic analysts examined the ways in which key epistemological terms were used, and as such endeavored to formulate rules for their use so as to avoid confusion of meaning. Idealism versus Realism in Epistemology With respect to epistemology, idealism and realism are labels which, at times, have also been used to express two opposing schools of thought. Idealism Idealism , in philosophy, is a theory of knowledge that attributes to consciousness, or the immaterial mind, a primary role in the constitution of the world. In epistemology, idealism is opposed to realism , the view that mind-independent physical objects exist and can be known through the senses.
Skepticism is the doctrine that absolute knowledge of reality is impossible.
Plato postulated the existence of a realm of Ideas that the varied objects of common experience imperfectly reflect. He maintained that these ideal Forms are not only more clearly intelligible but also more real than the transient and essentially illusory objects themselves. Kant greatly refined idealism through his critical inquiry into what he believed to be the limits of possible knowledge. Realism Realism , in philosophy, is the view that mind-independent physical objects exist and can be known through the senses. In medieval philosophy, realism referred to a position that regarded the Platonic Forms , or universals , as real.