There are currents of idealism in both ancient and classical Hindu philosophy. Like Absolute idealism of Hegel, Hindu idealism is essentially monistic, espousing the view that consciousness, is the essence or meaning of the phenomenal reality. The presence of idealist concepts in Indian thought has been emphasized by Rupert Sheldrake^{[citation needed]} and Fritjof Capra^{[citation needed]}.

The oldest reference to Idealism in Hindu texts is in Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda. This sukta espouses panentheism by presenting cosmic being Purusha as both pervading all universe and yet being transcendent to it. Absolute idealism can be seen in Chāndogya Upaniṣad, where things of the objective world like the five elements and the subjective world such as will, hope, memory etc. are seen to be emanations from the Self.

Idealist notions have been propounded by the Vedanta and Yoga schools of thought. Idealism was opposed by dualists Samkhya, the atomists Vaisheshika, the logicians Nyaya, the linguists Mimamsa and the materialists Cārvāka. Kashmir Shaivism is also categorized by scholars as realistic idealism.

Ayaan Hirsi Magan Ali ( pronunciation (help·info); Somali: Ayaan Xirsi Cali; Arabic: أيان حرسي علي‎ / ALA-LC: Ayān Ḥirsī ‘Alī; 13 November 1969) is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer and politician who is known for her views critical of Islam, practices of circumcision and female genital cutting. Her screenplay for Theo van Gogh's movie Submission led to death threats, resulting in the director's murder. The daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse, she is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA Foundation.

When she was eight, Hirsi Ali's family left Somalia for Saudi Arabia, then Ethiopia, and eventually settled in Kenya. She sought and obtained political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, under circumstances that later became the centre of a political controversy. In 2003 she was elected a member of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the Dutch parliament), representing the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). A political crisis surrounding the potential stripping of her Dutch citizenship led to her resignation from the parliament, and led indirectly to the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet in 2006.

Dattopant Bapurao Thengadi Hindi: दत्तोपंत बापुराव ठेंगड़ी, (November 10, 1920 – October 14, 2004) was a Hindu Ideologue, Indian trade union leader, and founder of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. He was born in the village of Arvi in Wardha district in Maharashtra. Shri, Thengadi Ji was a fulltime Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Pracharak till he breathed his last on 14 October 2004. The kind of impact he left on the social and economic life of India is supremely unique, and set the tone for generations to come. Some of the hallmark qualities of his lifestyle are: simple living, in-depth study, deep thinking, clarity of thought, courage of the conviction and missionary zeal for the goal.

Shri Dattopant Thengadi (Dattatreya Bapurao Thengadi) was born in a humble village called Arvi (Wardha, Maharashtra) in the year 1920 (10 November) on the auspicious day of Deepawali. He was a professionally trained lawyer, visionary, philosopher and organizational man par excellence. He showed his leadership quality at an early age of 15 years by becoming the president of the ‘Vanar Sena’ at Arvi and president student union, Municipal High School, Arvi. He actively took part in Freedom Movement and was a member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1936-38. He worked as organizing secretary of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in 1950-51, and was also associated with Postal & Railway Workers Union (Communist Party). He was profoundly influenced by Sh. Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, popularly known as Guru Ji, some of the other towering figures of the time who influenced his persona are- Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya. He always kept pace with time by establishing various organizations in different spheres, and maintained the core philosophy of Hindu Dharma and Bhartiya Darshan.

Rama (Devanāgarī: राम ; Rāma,; Burmese: ရာမ Jàma̰ ; Javanese: Ramavijaya ; Khmer: ព្រះរាម Phreah Ream ; Lao: ພຣະຣາມ Phra Ram ; Malay: Megat Seri Rama; Maranao: Raja Bantugan; Tamil: ராமர் Ramar; Telugu: రామ Rama; Thai: พระราม Phra Ram) or full name Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in Hindu scriptures. Rama was born in Suryavansha (Ikshvaku Vansh) later known as Raghuvansha after king Raghu. Based on Puranic genealogy, Rama is believed by Hindus to have lived in the second Yuga called Treta Yuga, before Krishna who was born towards the end of Dwapara Yuga. Rama is traditionally considered to have appeared in the last quarter of Treta Yuga.

Rama is one of the many popular figures and deities in Hinduism, specifically Vaishnavism and Vaishnava religious scriptures in South and Southeast Asia. In Ayodhya, the Indian city believed to be the birthplace of Rama, he is also worshipped as an infant or Rama Lalla. Most of the details of Rama's life come from the Ramayana, one of the two great epics of India. Born as the eldest son of Kausalya and Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya, Rama is referred to within Hinduism as Maryada Purushottama, literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Self-Control or Lord of Virtue. Rama is the husband of Sita, whom Hindus consider to be an Avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.

George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás in Madrid, December 16, 1863; died September 26, 1952, in Rome) was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. A lifelong Spanish citizen, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States and identified himself as an American, although he always kept a validated Spanish passport. He wrote in English and is generally considered an American man of letters. At the age of forty-eight, Santayana left his position at Harvard and returned to Europe permanently, never to return to the United States. His last will was to be buried in the Spanish Pantheon of the Cimitero Monumentale del Verano in Rome.

Santayana is known for the sayings, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", and "[O]nly the dead have seen the end of war." The latter sentence is often (for example, at the start of the film Blackhawk Down) falsely attributed to Plato; the former appears in Reason in Common Sense, the first volume of Santayana's five-volume Life of Reason. (In the 1905 Charles Scribner's Sons edition, it is found on page 284.) Santayana is broadly included among the pragmatists with Harvard University colleagues William James and Josiah Royce. He said that he stood in philosophy "exactly where [he stood] in daily life."