particularism.

1. An emphasis on particular interests, groups or circumstances rather than universal scope.

2. An approach to moral judgment emphasizing the particular context rather than fixed general principles.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• political particularism
• local particularism

On the page

Political particularism directed attention to the region’s distinct interests.

The critique of local particularism questioned which outsiders were excluded.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: institutional and conceptual change, philosophical orientation, qualification of recurrence and degree. Disciplines: academic writing, philosophy, cross-disciplinary analysis. Commonness: moderately common.