anti-realist
|an-ti-ri-al-ist|
🇺🇸
/ˌæn.tiˈriː.ə.lɪst/
🇬🇧
/ˌæn.tiˈrɪə.lɪst/
against realism
Etymology
'anti-realist' is a compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti' meaning 'against') and 'realist' (one who holds or is associated with 'realism').
'realist' derives from 'real' (from Latin 'realis', related to 'res' meaning 'thing') plus the agent suffix '-ist' (via French/Latin), and 'anti-' entered English as a combining form from Greek via Latin/Old French. The compound 'anti-realist' arose in modern philosophical usage (20th century) to label positions opposed to realism.
Initially, 'anti-' simply meant 'against' and 'realist' denoted an adherent of realism; combined, 'anti-realist' came to specifically denote philosophical positions rejecting the mind-independent status of certain entities or truths.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who rejects or opposes philosophical realism — i.e., the view that certain kinds of entities or truths exist independently of our thoughts or perceptions.
As an anti-realist, she argued that moral values depend on human practices rather than existing objectively.
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Noun 2
in specific domains (e.g., science, ethics, mathematics), someone who denies that theoretical entities, moral facts, or mathematical objects have mind-independent existence.
Many anti-realists about mathematics treat numbers as useful fictions rather than independently existing objects.
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Adjective 1
opposed to realism; describing a position that denies or questions the mind-independent existence of certain entities or truths.
He defended an anti-realist interpretation of scientific theories, emphasizing their predictive usefulness over literal truth.
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Last updated: 2025/11/18 15:28