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

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Etymology

Origin of externalism

First recorded in 1855–60; external + -ism

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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

Some of these are good enough, but they nearly all culminate in an ambitious externalism.

From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by William Chauncey Bartlett

We are not dependent on forms as Israel was, but the spiritual religion of Christianity was only made possible by the externalism of the older system.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture by Alexander Maclaren

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

They tore off the accumulated husks of externalism, but kept intact the real kernel of religion.

From Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic by Sidney Lewis Gulick

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