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[ noun ] a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school

Used in print

(Newton Stallknecht, "Ideas and Literature," in Newton S...)

Very likely it will also include a recognition that the work we are reading reflects or `` belongs_to '' some way of thought labelled as a `` school '' or an `` - ism '' , i._e. a complex or `` syndrome '' of ideas occurring together with sufficient prominence to warrant identification .

Usually the work studied offers us a special or even an individualized rendering or treatment of the ideas in_question , so that the student finds it necessary to distinguish carefully between the several expressions of an `` - ism '' or mode of thought .

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