MEANING
The act of proposing something as a starting assumption for reasoning or explanation.
Use it for
naming an assumption introduced to explain a pattern; distinguishing a theoretical starting point from an observed fact; discussing whether an assumed mechanism is necessaryNames the introduction of an assumption as a starting point, without presenting it as an observed finding. Academic functions: Theory / Conceptual Language, Argumentation, Inference.
Words that belong together
- the postulation of a mechanism
- the postulation of an underlying structure
- theoretical postulation
On the page
The postulation of a stable preference structure simplifies the economic model.
The observed pattern does not by itself justify the postulation of a universal rule.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- postulation
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Usage notes
Usually uncountable for the act of assuming; countable postulation, plural postulations, for a particular assumption. Natural pattern: the postulation of + proposed entity or principle. Register: academic. Commonness: uncommon (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
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