externalism

American  

[ik-stur-nl-iz-uhm] / ɪkˈstɜr nlˌɪz əm /

noun

1. attention to externals, especially excessive attention to externals, as in religion.

---

externalism British  

/ ɪkˈstɜːnəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. exaggerated emphasis on outward form, esp in religious worship

2. a philosophical doctrine holding that only objects that can be perceived by the senses are real; phenomenalism

---

Other Word Forms

• externalist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of externalism

First recorded in 1855–60; external + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

externalism

The second reason may well be that there are different coping mechanisms among minorities that are more externalism than internalizing.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2013

And where the beliefs are dying, the latent externalism and materialism of Western thought and Western life are able to assert themselves without let or hindrance.

From What Is and What Might Be A Study of Education in General and Elementary Education in Particular by Holmes, Edmond

He leaves them to our own thought, but they all point to the one great lesson that God needs not the service of externalism, but the preparation of the heart.

From Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Lives of More Than 200 of the Most Prominent Personages in History by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)

That externalism, whether in school or out of school, is the foster-mother of the whole brood, is almost too obvious to need demonstration.

From What Is and What Might Be A Study of Education in General and Elementary Education in Particular by Holmes, Edmond

This philosophy of externalism and of the impotence of the human mind threw the poet, believer and devotee of the Kabbalah, into a most dangerous mysticism.

From The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885) by Slouschz, Nahum