Meaning of presentism | Babel Free

Definitions

1. 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).
   countable, uncountable
2. The belief that only current phenomena are relevant.
   countable, uncountable
3. The ahistorical interpretation of past phenomena in terms of current beliefs and knowledge.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

CEFR level