immoralism

American  

[ih-mawr-uh-liz-uhm, ih-mor-] / ɪˈmɔr əˌlɪz əm, ɪˈmɒr- /

noun

Philosophy.

1. indifference toward or opposition to conventional morality.

---

Other Word Forms

• immoralist noun

Etymology

Origin of immoralism

First recorded in 1905–10; immoral + -ism

Explanation

Immoralism finds no right and wrong in the universe: cats eat birds and fire burns houses just because that's what they are. It’s the same with humans, according to immoralism, so rules of right and wrong are made up and pointless. Believers in immoralism, such as the philosopher Nietzsche, consider rules or laws about right and wrong to be little more than a human invention created so that people could feel safe — and control others. According to immoralism, if you don’t want to be controlled, then don’t accept or follow those rules. Just do whatever comes naturally — but try to make sure you’re stronger than everybody else, or someone stronger than you may take you down.

Example Sentences

The wonder turns to mere mysticism; and mere mysticism always turns to mere immoralism.

From The Crimes of England by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)

If they are right, then we must picture Ireland as the victim of a radical immoralism.

From The Open Secret of Ireland by Kettle, T. M. (Thomas Michael)

Here is an "immoralism" deeper and far more anti-social than any "beyond good and evil."

From Suspended Judgments Essays on Books and Sensations by Powys, John Cowper

Wedekind is of this order; a moralist is concealed behind his shining ambuscade of verbal immoralism.

From Ivory Apes and Peacocks by Huneker, James

At all events it must serve a better purpose to appraise the practical importance of Nietzsche's speculations than blankly to denounce their immoralism.

From Prophets of Dissent : Essays on Maeterlinck, Strindberg, Nietzsche and Tolstoy by Heller, Otto