The Ideal in the West

The influ­ence of "Ide­al­ism" has so pen­e­trated our lan­guage and our think­ing that we don't rec­og­nize it as per­haps the old­est continuously-operating philo­soph­i­cal sys­tem in the West. Although its influ­ence rises and falls, its con­cep­tion and artic­u­la­tion of "the Good" con­tin­ues to shape our beliefs and aspi­ra­tions. This is not good as opposed to evil, but the absolute source of all benef­i­cence, beauty, and justice. This book traces its history and influence through some of the most fascinating people and periods in history--Plato in Classical Athens, Plotinus in Imperial Rome, Marsilio Ficino in the Florentine Renaissance, and Ralph Waldo Emerson in 19th century America.