I'd rather say that the "pure" is a source of inspiration... which can be good or bad. For a kind of outlandish but strong example, look at how monotheism can

I'd rather say that the "pure" is a source of inspiration... which can be good or bad. For a kind of outlandish but strong example, look at how monotheism can inspire people to extreme struggles. Or look at how the idea of a coherent and final constitution inspires American politics and the struggle for "a more perfect union." And yet with all of these things, there's a lot of plumbing and compromise and evolution and war required, too. Sometimes the pure ideal turns out to be, in hindsight, just a kind of arbitrary notion. Like if your whole ideology is based on God, and then people start to just not believe in that God at all. Then you get a renaissance, but also confusion. So, like, I love Haskell, and I love to see it grow and develop, but I'm also aware that its strong ideals can from another perspective be considered false idols. Still, ideals are great for rallying around. Some of what I'm trying to say here is articulated by Richard Rorty, through his concept of "ironism" in Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, which I recommend!