verb
- treating an abstract concept as if it were a concrete thing or substance
Usage: philosophical; formal
Examples
- The philosopher warned against hypostatizing justice as a physical entity.
- By hypostatizing emotions, we risk losing sight of their complexity.
- The theory was criticized for hypostatizing abstract mathematical concepts.
- Hypostatizing freedom makes it harder to understand its true nature.
- The author avoided hypostatizing virtue in her ethical framework.
- Critics accused him of hypostatizing consciousness into a separate substance.