Josiah Royce (1855-1916) was leader of
the idealistic school in the United
States. His main theme is that ideas are
purposes, plans of action, rather than
copies of reality. The ideal's
fulfillment, plans that have met the
requirements of action, represent external
meaning. Thus purposes are incomplete
without an external world in which
purposes are realized. The external is
therefore meaningless unless it is the
fulfillment of some (internal)
purpose.