I. Philosophy – II. Ethics
The term ideal derives from Lat. idealis, idealiter, first used by Martianus Capella (ad ideam pertinens); from the 13th century on, it was used in two senses: (1) as existing in the Platonic “idea” or “archetypally” in the divine spirit (esse exemplariter), and (2) as existing only as a model in the mind (esse in intellectu).
Systematically, the ideal lies between the poles of ideas and empirical reality. The ideal differs from the universality of ideas inasmuch as…