Dictionary

presentism en · NOUN

Etymology

From present + -ism.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The view that neither the future nor the past exist (events and entities that are wholly past or wholly future do not exist at all).
2. (countable, uncountable) The belief that only current phenomena are relevant.
   • Many people lost their perspective in their euphoria and became parochial and presentist. In their presentism, they forgot that long distance ties had been flourishing for generations, using automobiles, telephones, airplanes, and even postal (snail) mail. 2004, Barry Wellman, Bernie Hogan, “The Immanent Internet”, in Johnston McKay, editor, Netting Citizens: Exploring Citizenship in a Digital Age, Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, pages 54–80:
   • Despite the breathless presentism of the current discourse, scholarly debate on the nature of community did not originate with the introduction of new computer technologies, but arose out of earlier concerns about the transition from agrarian to urban industrial societies. 2000, Keith Hampton, Barry Wellman, “Examining Community in the Digital Neighborhood: Early Results from Canada's Wired Suburb.”, in Toru Ishida, Katherine Isbister, editors, Digital Cities: Technologies, Experiences and Future Perspectives, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pages 475–492:
3. (countable, uncountable) The ahistorical interpretation of past phenomena in terms of current beliefs and knowledge.
   • One of the driving ideas on the left right now is presentism: the notion that figures from the past can legitimately be judged by contemporary mores and values. So the Founding Fathers are cast less as architects of the new Republic, and more as slaveholders and white oppressors. 2021 June 18, Nick Bryant, “Once the future, US now captive to its past”, in BBC News:

Forms

Antonyms

eternalism

Relateds

presenteeism · presentist

Translations (10)

ru презенти́зм ((philosophical) presentism) · fr présentisme ((philosophical) presentism) · sv presentism ((philosophical) presentism) · ko 현재주의 ((philosophical) presentism) · cmn 現在論 /现在论 ((philosophical) presentism) · ca presentisme ((philosophical) presentism) · de Präsentismus ((philosophical) presentism) · el παροντισμός ((philosophical) presentism) · es presentismo ((philosophical) presentism) · pt presentismo ((philosophical) presentism)