Advertisement

Advertisement

historicism

[ hi-stawr-uh-siz-uhm, -stor- ]

noun

  1. a theory that history is determined by immutable laws and not by human agency.
  2. a theory that all cultural phenomena are historically determined and that historians must study each period without imposing any personal or absolute value system.
  3. a profound or excessive respect for historical institutions, as laws or traditions.
  4. a search for laws of historical evolution that would explain and predict historical phenomena.


historicism

/ hɪˈstɒrɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

  1. the belief that natural laws govern historical events which in turn determine social and cultural phenomena
  2. the doctrine that each period of history has its own beliefs and values inapplicable to any other, so that nothing can be understood independently of its historical context
  3. the conduct of any enquiry in accordance with these views
  4. excessive emphasis on history, historicism, past styles, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • hisˈtoricist, nounadjective
Discover More

Other Words From

  • his·tori·cist noun adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of historicism1

1890–95; historic + -ism; compare German Historismus
Discover More

Example Sentences

But he passes over Popper's deeper individualist epistemological mistake, embedded in his philosophy of science, which provided a foundation for his attack on historicism.

From Salon

Such historicism is not an argument but a gambit to forestall argument.

It was edgier than his usual romantic historicism and more interesting for it.

Latour’s historicism misses a key point about science, which is that it is about matters which are the case whether we believe them to be so or not.

This one wasn’t about gender fluidity, but rather a sort of timeline porousness between day and night, home and event, historicism and modernity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


historic episcopatehistoricity