externalism

American  

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

noun

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

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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

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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

He might have made their life a constant summer-time—that very life that had been by his own short-sighted externalism, confirmed into freezing, stormy, chilling winter.

From Tom Clark and His Wife Their Double Dreams, And the Curious Things that Befell Them Therein; Being the Rosicrucian's Story by Paschal Beverly Randolph

If externalism has to be adopted to hedge royalty, still a further inner change is demanded: there must be a corresponding spiritual growth.

From Cyropaedia: the education of Cyrus by Henry Graham Dakyns

One was saved from the perils of a mere externalism, and was driven inward on the unseen realities which ceremonial may sometimes obscure.

From Fifteen Chapters of Autobiography by George William Erskine Russell

Yes, I see all that, and all the externalism of her life.

From Dawn by Harriet A. Adams