Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An inclination toward literal truth and pragmatism.
- noun The representation in art or literature of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.
- noun The scholastic doctrine, opposed to nominalism, that universals exist independently of their being thought.
- noun The modern philosophical doctrine, opposed to idealism, that physical objects exist independently of their being perceived.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The doctrine of the realist, in any of the senses of that word. See especially realist, n., 1.
- noun In literature and art, the representation of what is real in fact; the effort to exhibit the literal reality and unvarnished truth of things; treatment of characters, objects, scenes, events, circumstances, etc., according to actual truth or appearance, or to intrinsic probability, without selection or preference over the ugly of what is beautiful or admirable: opposed to idealism and romanticism. Compare
naturalism .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun As opposed to
nominalism , the doctrine that genera and species are real things or entities, existing independently of our conceptions. According to realism the Universal existsante rem (Plato ), orin re (Aristotle ). - noun As opposed to
idealism , the doctrine that in sense perception there is an immediate cognition of the external object, and our knowledge of it is not mediate and representative. - noun (Art & Lit.) Fidelity to nature or to real life; representation without idealization, and making no appeal to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.
- noun the practise of assessing facts and the probabilities of the consequences of actions in an objective manner; avoidance of unrealistic or impractical beliefs or efforts. Contrasted to
idealism ,self-deception ,overoptimism ,overimaginativeness , orvisionariness .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A concern for
fact orreality and rejection of theimpractical andvisionary - noun An
artistic representation ofreality as it is - noun sciences The viewpoint that an
external reality existsindependent ofobservation - noun philosophy A
doctrine thatuniversals are real—they exist and are distinct from the particulars that instantiate them
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and writers strove for detailed realistic and factual description
- noun the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth
- noun (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that physical objects continue to exist when not perceived
- noun the state of being actual or real
- noun (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that abstract concepts exist independent of their names
Etymologies
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Examples
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In the arts, the term realism is commonly used to refer to the often life-like depiction of the world of objects and human beings.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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In the arts, the term realism is commonly used to refer to the often life-like depiction of the world of objects and human beings.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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In the arts, the term realism is commonly used to refer to the often life-like depiction of the world of objects and human beings.
MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997
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The term realism is also used to describe a movement in literature that attempts to portray life as it is.
realism 2002
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But even with this definition, the term realism has no very definite meaning unless all persons agree as to what constitutes nature.
A History of English Prose Fiction Bayard Tuckerman
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I've already mentioned the crucial point about approximation Duhem doesn't consider himself a realist because the view that physical theories are approximate rules out what he calls realism, but there are other issues.
Archive 2005-06-01 2005
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I've already mentioned the crucial point about approximation Duhem doesn't consider himself a realist because the view that physical theories are approximate rules out what he calls realism, but there are other issues.
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Those big chaps who blow about what they call realism -- how do THEIR portraits look in a drawing-room?
The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton 1899
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With all its poetic impulse, it is an age clearly of faithful observation, of what we call realism, alike in its iconic and heroic work; alike in portraiture, that is to say, and in the presentment of divine or abstract types.
Greek Studies: a Series of Essays Walter Pater 1866
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Schmittians, however much they seek to clothe themselves in "realism" are in fact the enemies of the rule of law, and thus of freedom.
Discourse.net: Nation Mag Claims ICE has Network of Secret Detention Faciilities -- in the USA 2009
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