hypostatize

Definition

To render into, or regard as, a separate and distinct substance; to construe a contextually-subjective and complex abstraction, idea, or concept as a universal object without regard to nuance or change in character.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὑποστατίζω (hupostatízō, “I hypostatize”).

Example Sentences

• "On the other hand, there were a few who could see no objective reality in anything but individuals, and looked upon both species and genera as hypostatized universals."
• "Positivism, restricted to a programme of investigating observable particulars, cannot grasp the ‘self-formative process of man as process’. It hypostatizes the abstract concept of fact or datum."
• "Progressives are wrong to hypostatize their belief in mankind's eternal advance, and to disavow anything that does not fit this preordained vision."

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