Abstract expressionism—A New York genre of painting characterized by freely created abstractions.
Abstractionism—A representation having no reference to concrete objects or specific examples
Aestheticism—Attitude or practice that privileges aesthetics above all else.
Americanism—A custom that is peculiar to the US or its citizens.
Anachronism—A person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age.
Analytical cubism—The early phase of cubism.
Anarchism—A political theory favoring the abolition of governments.
Anti-Semitism—The intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people.
Aristotelianism—The philosophy of Aristotle that elaborates the fundamental principles of the syllogism.
Asceticism—The condition, practice, or mode of life, of ascetics.
Associationism—Theory that association is the basic principle of mental activity.
Asynchronism—The relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times
Atavism—A reappearance of an earlier characteristic; Synonyms: reversion, throwback
Atomism—The doctrine of atoms.
Autotelism—Belief that a work of art is an end in itself or its own justification.
Barbarism—An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners; ignorance of arts, learning, and literature
Biologism—Use of biological principles in explaining human especially social behavior.
Boehmenism—The mystical theological doctrine of Jakob Boehme that influenced the Quakers; Also called Behmenism.
Capitalism—An economic system based on private ownership of capital
Chromatism—The hallucinatory perception of colored lights; Abnormal pigmentation
Classicism—A movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that favored rationality and restraint and strict forms
Colloquialism—Characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech.
Communism—A form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
Concretism—A representation of an abstract idea in concrete terms; Synonyms: concrete representation
Constructivism—An abstractionist artistic movement in Russia after World War I; industrial materials were used to construct nonrepresentational objects.
Criticism—A serious examination and judgment of something; "constructive criticism is always appreciated"
Cubism—An artistic movement in France beginning in 1907 that featured surfaces of geometrical planes.
Darwinism—A theory of organic evolution claiming that new species arise and are perpetuated by natural selection.
Determinism—the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably determined by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist
Dichroism—Pleochroism of a crystal so that it exhibits two different colors when viewed from two different directions.
Eclecticism—Making decisions on the basis of what seems best instead of following some single doctrine or style
Elitism—The attitude that society should be governed by an elite group of individuals.
Enantiomorphism—The relation of opposition between crystals or molecules that are reflections of one another
Esotericism—Esoteric doctrine or principles.
Ethnocentrism—Belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group.
Evolutionism—The theory of, or belief in, evolution.
Exhibitionism—Extravagant and conspicuous behavior intended to attract attention to oneself.
Experimentalism—An empirical doctrine that advocates experimental principles.
Expressionism—A genre of German painting that tried to show the subjective responses to scenes rather than the scenes themselves.
Fascism—a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism))
Futurism—An artistic movement in Italy around 1910 that tried to express the energy and values of the machine age
Functionalism—A psychology based on the assumption that all mental process are useful to an organism in adapting to the environment
Idealism—Impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are
Imagism—A movement by American and English poets early in the 20th century in reaction to Victorian sentimentality; used common speech in free verse with clear concrete imagery.
Impressionism—A genre of French painting that pictured appearances by strokes of unmixed colors to give the impression of reflected light.
Individualism—A belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence.
Industrialism—An economic system built on large industries rather than on agriculture or craftsmanship.
Intellectualism—Intellectual power; intellectuality.
Isomorphism—Similarity of form or shape or structure.
Liberalism—A political orientation that favors progress and reform
Logical Positivism—the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation)
Marxism—A form of socialism that abolishes private ownership based on the writings of Marx and Lenin
Modernism—A deliberate philosophical and practical estrangement or divergence from the past in the arts and literature occurring esp. in the course of the 20th century and taking form in any of various innovative movements and styles that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres.
Monism—The doctrine that reality consists of a single basic substance or element
Naturalism—The doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations
Neoclassicism—A revival of the classical style in art or literature.
Neoexpressionism—An art movement based on expressionism; developed in 1980s in Europe and US; crudely drawn garish paintings.
Neologism—A newly invented word or phrase; Synonyms: neology, coinage
Neoromanticism—An art movement based on a revival of romanticism in art and literature.
Pacifism—The belief that all international disputes can be settled by arbitration.
Patriotism—Love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
Phenomenalism—That theory which limits positive or scientific knowledge to phenomena only, whether material or spiritual.
Phototropism—An orienting response to light.
Pleochroism—The phenomenon of different colors appearing when certain crystals are viewed from different directions.
Positivism—the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation)
Postmodernism—Art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism.
Pragmatism—The doctrine that practical consequences are the criteria of knowledge and meaning and value
Primitivism—A style characteristic of a primitive artist.
Progressivism—the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society
Realism—Art and literature that represents events and social conditions as they actually are (without idealization).
Reductionism—A theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components.
Romanticism—A movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization
Sexism—Discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of the opposite sex.
Scientism—The belief that the investigative methods of the physical sciences are applicable or justifiable in all fields of inquiry
Skepticism—An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.
Solipsism—The philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist
Structuralism—An approach to various areas of study, eg literary criticism and linguistics, which seeks to identify underlying patterns or structures, especially as they might reflect patterns of behavior or thought in society as a whole
Surrealism—A 20th century movement in art and literature (developing out of Dadaism) that used fantastic images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams.
Symbolism—A system of symbols and symbolic representations.
Synchronism—The relation that exists when things occur at the same time; "the drug produces an increased
Synthetic cubism—The late phase of cubism.
Synthetism—A genre of French painting characterized by bright flat shapes and symbolic treatments of abstract ideas
Trichroism—Pleochroism of a crystal so that it exhibits three different colors when viewed from three different directions