Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or process of intellectualizing.
- noun An unconscious means of protecting oneself from the emotional stress and anxiety associated with confronting painful personal fears or problems by excessive reasoning.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A making intellectual; development of the intellect. Also spelled
intellectualisation .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable the act or process of
intellectualizing - noun countable an instance of such a process
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that uses reasoning to block out emotional stress and conflict
Etymologies
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Examples
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We saw Kristin’s philosophizing as a type of defense we called intellectualization.
Coyote Medicine M.D. Lewis Mebl-Madrona 1997
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We saw Kristin’s philosophizing as a type of defense we called intellectualization.
Coyote Medicine M.D. Lewis Mebl-Madrona 1997
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Modern scientific and technological knowledge is a culmination of this process that Weber called intellectualization, in the course of which, the germinating grounds of human knowledge in the past, such as religion, theology, and metaphysics, were slowly pushed back to the realm of the superstitious, mystical, or simply irrational.
Asthmatic 2009
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He uses this metaphor to account for the suspension of disbelief: "We suspend the rational process of intellectualization, which is to say, of the comparison of phenomenon to idea, which is a process too slow for the hunt."
The Harvard Crimson | All Articles Matthew C. Stone 2010
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The evolution of automobiles and electricity into nodes in the nervous system of a participatory and attuned city can now be seen as a next step in the "intellectualization" of the global system.
Shinichi Takemura: Designing a Multiperson Planetary Consciousness 2010
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The evolution of automobiles and electricity into nodes in the nervous system of a participatory and attuned city can now be seen as a next step in the "intellectualization" of the global system.
Shinichi Takemura: Designing a Multiperson Planetary Consciousness Shinichi Takemura 2010
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But mere insight is never sufficient, as it will represent nothing more than what is called "intellectualization," which is just another defense mechanism.
One Cosmos 2008
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This man braged about not voting for the war in Iraq and now he is giving every conceivable rationalization and intellectualization using West Point as a prop. Grandiosity, grandiosity, grandiosity.
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"I like public sculpture because it exists outside of the gallery world, which can be pretty elitist," Mr. Ryman said, adding that outdoor installations reach a broader audience, and "the focus tends to be more on personal interaction than intellectualization."
Planting Giant Seeds of Imagination Jed Lipinski 2011
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It seems to me that the intellectualization and aestheticizing of principles and values in this country is one of the things that's gutted our generation.
intertribal: escapism as a luxury intertribal 2010
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