universalism.

1. An approach applying principles, rights or concerns beyond particular groups or cases.

2. The religious belief that salvation ultimately extends to all.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• ethical universalism
• universalism of rights

On the page

Ethical universalism required the argument to consider those outside the immediate group.

The universalism of rights was contrasted with group-specific privilege.

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.