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Glite Dictionary
🌍 About outside factors 🧑‍🎓 A believer in outside causes
externalist

externalist

1 9.9
A person who believes that thoughts and meanings depend on the world and other people
  • noun
  • /ɪkˈstɜrnəlɪst/
  • Specialized
: externalista
  • Because the action theory of most manualists was heavily externalist (i.e., they frequently described the object of an action in terms of its visible effect, rather than in terms of the immediate purpose of the agent performing it), it was easy for them to conclude that the material unjust aggressor was "doing the same thing" as the formal unjust aggressor and therefore could be treated in the same way.

But even beyond the law and beyond AI lurks something that reasons externalists call the central problem.

Examples

  • Many philosophers identify themselves as externalists because they argue that knowledge and meaning are shaped by social contexts.

  • Based on this strand of research, we developed and employed an analytical model to study research environments combining the two perspectives, internalist and externalist.

    Academic text (2018)

  • But even beyond the law and beyond AI lurks something that reasons externalists call the central problem.

    Philosophy Tube

  • All externalists tend to believe that what passes for true knowledge at any one time is merely a reflection of the social power of the epistemic establishment.

    Academic text (1990)

  • An externalist believes that our understanding of concepts is influenced more by external factors than by individual thought.

  • In discussions about epistemology, an externalist perspective emphasizes the role of external factors in shaping our beliefs.

Surface Forms

externalist singular
externalists plural

Morphology

externalist = externalism (semi-transparent) = external + ist

The noun 'externalist' is formed by adding the productive agent/affiliation suffix '-ist' to the philosophical noun 'externalism'; the morphological process is regular though the meaning is specialized.

Etymology

Externalist comes from external, with ex- meaning 'out', as in exit, and the ending -ist meaning 'a person', as in artist. So an externalist is a person who believes that mind, meaning, or knowledge depends on what is 'outside' the individual, such as the environment or social context.