-ism, -ismus
(Greek, ismos; Latin, ismus: a suffix: belief in, practice of, condition of, process, characteristic behavior or manner, abnormal state, distinctive feature or trait)
"Wikipedians" who broadly subscribe to this philosophy are likely to request that an article that they believe does not meet such standards be removed, or deleted.
2. Choosing to contradict a reality as a way to avoid a disturbing actuality based on an empirically verifiable truth: AIDS denialism describes the disaffirmation of the facts which have been proven by relying on observation and tests.
3. An essentially irrational action that withholds validation of an historical experience or event: There are some people who still today use the term Holocaust denialism to present their views by refusing to admit that this part of the past ever occurred.
Apparently the term denialism is a neologism created by Michael Specter (a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998) for his book, Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives, published in 2009; Penguin Press; New York; in which Specter reveals that Americans have come to mistrust institutions and especially the institution of science more today than ever before.
Deontologism is usually contrasted with teleologism (an emphasis on goals) or consequentialism (an emphasis on results); but sometimes it is also contrasted with egoism or eudaimonism (an emphasis on personal happiness or fulfillment as opposed to conformance with moral imperatives).
Other names include the following modern dictators who have advocated despotism:
- Joseph Stalin (U.S.S.R or Russia)
- Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung) (China)
- Kim Jong-il (North Korea)
- Muammar Al-Gaddafi (Libya)
- Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
- Plus many others throughout history!
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
2. A belief in or the worship of devils.
3. An evil character or conduct of a person or people.
2. The existence within a single geologic formation of regions of rock that were laid down at different times: Diachronism can be exemplified by a sea that gradually covered a landmass.
Diageotropism can be described as a response of a plant to gravity in which a part of the plant adopts a horizontal position.
Diageotropism can also characterize the tendency of growing parts, such as roots, to become oriented at right angles to the direction of any gravitational force.