In the fields of philosophy and æsthetics, the term philistinism describes the social attitude of anti-intellectualism that undervalues and despises art, beauty, spirituality, and intellect; ‘the manners, habits, and character, or mode of thinking of a philistine’.
Full Answer
What is the origin of the term philistine?
In English usage, the term philistine —a person hostile to aesthetic and intellectual discourse—was common British usage by the decade of 1820, and was applied to the bourgeois, merchant middle class of the Victorian Era (1837–1901), whose new wealth rendered some of them hostile to cultural traditions which favored aristocratic power.
Were the Philistines a Semitic people?
The fact that the Philistines were uncircumcised does not prove that they were not a Semitic people. Herodotus (ii.104) says that the Phoenicians acknowledged that they took this custom from the Egyptians, and the Arabs according to this passage were still uncircumcised, nor is it known that this was a custom of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
What is the plot of the Philistine?
The eponymous philistine is a failed businessman, a salesman of used cars, who aspires to the high-life of wealth; to realise that aspiration, he seeks to meet a rich woman who will support him, and so embarks upon a rail journey from Munich to Barcelona to seek her at the World's Fair.
What about the Philistines and the cherethim?
Isaiah (2:6) speaks of Philistine superstitions, Ezekiel (25:15,16) connects them with the Cherethim on the seacoast. They still held Gath in the time of Amos (6:2), and Gaza, Ashdod and Ekron in that of Zephaniah (2:5), who again mentions the Cherethim with Philistines, as inhabitants of Canaan or the "lowlands."
What does it mean to call someone a philistine?
Definition of Philistine (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia. 2 often not capitalized. a : a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. b : one uninformed in a special area of knowledge.
Why do people say you philistine?
If you call someone a philistine, you mean that they do not care about or understand good art, music, or literature, and do not think that they are important. You can use philistine to describe people or organizations who you think do not care about or understand the value of good art, music, or literature.
What does the word Philistine mean in the Bible?
Philistine definition A member of a people, perhaps of Aegean origin, who settled ancient Philistia around the 12th century bc . noun.
What does the writer mean by philistinism explain your answer?
Philistinism is the attitude or quality of not caring about, understanding, or liking good art, music, or literature.
Is Philistine derogatory?
As a derogatory term philistine describes a person who is narrow-minded and hostile to the life of the mind, whose materialistic worldview and tastes indicate an indifference to cultural and aesthetic values.
Who are modern-day Philistines?
The Philistines were a group of people who arrived in the Levant (an area that includes modern-day Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria) during the 12th century B.C. They came during a time when cities and civilizations in the Middle East and Greece were collapsing.
Do Philistines still exist?
The Philistines, an ancient people described not so positively in scripture, went extinct centuries ago, but some of their DNA has survived. Scientists say it's helped them solve an ancient mystery.
Does Philistine mean Palestine?
The area contained the five cities (the Pentapolis) of the Philistine confederacy (Gaza, Ashkelon [Ascalon], Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron) and was known as Philistia, or the Land of the Philistines. It was from this designation that the whole of the country was later called Palestine by the Greeks.
What race were the Philistines in the Bible?
Biblical accounts. In the Book of Genesis, the Philistines are said to descend from the Casluhites, an Egyptian people.
What's the opposite of a Philistine?
Antonyms & Near Antonyms for philistine. nonmaterialistic.
How do you say Philistine in Hebrew?
0:041:01How to Pronounce Philistine? (CORRECTLY) - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThis is normally said as philistine philistine in american english. However it is usually said asMoreThis is normally said as philistine philistine in american english. However it is usually said as philistine philistine in american english versus philistine in british english.
Where was philistia in the Bible?
Philistia consisted of the five city-states of the Philistines, known as the Philistine pentapolis, described in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 13:3) and the Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 6:17), comprising Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza, in the south-western Levant.
What is an uncultured person called?
boorish, coarse, crass, ignorant, philistine, rude, uncivilized, uncouth, unlettered, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar.
How do you use Philistine in a sentence?
Philistine in a Sentence 🔉Because Steve is a philistine, he thinks potted meat is a gourmet dinner.When the philistine was questioned about his opinion of the school's art program, he stated it was a waste of taxpayers' dollars.More items...
What is the opposite of Philistine?
Antonyms & Near Antonyms for philistine. nonmaterialistic.
What is it called when someone pretends to be you?
masquerade. noun. an act of pretending to be someone who you are not.
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What is a philistine?
1 or philistine : guided by materialism and disdainful of intellectual or artistic values a philistine attitude toward opera Greenfield's anti-hero, Larry Lazar, is not a conventionally philistine tycoon, trampling on the souls of artists. — William A. Henry … future epochs will remember us as a coarse and philistine people who squandered our bottomlessly rich cultural inheritance for short-term and meaningless financial advantage. — Gerald Howard It is a fact of philistine life that amusement is where the money is. — William H. Gass
What is the meaning of the word "Philistine" in the Bible?
Enemies of the ancient Israelites, they were portrayed in the Bible as a crude and warlike race . This led to the use of Philistine in English to refer, humorously, to an enemy into whose hands one had fallen or might fall. Several centuries later, an extended sense of philistine denoting “a materialistic person who is disdainful of intellectual or artistic values” came into being as a result of the following: a violent town-gown conflict in the German university town of Jena in the 17th century prompted a local clergyman to address the events in a sermon in which he alluded to the Biblical Philistines. This caused the university students to apply the German word Philister (equivalent to English Philistine) to the townspeople, whom they perceived as unenlightened and hostile to education. English speakers familiar with the story began using philistine in this way by the early 1800s, soon extending its reference to any enemy of culture. The “anti-intellectual” sense of philistine was popularized by the writer Matthew Arnold, who famously applied it to members of the English middle class in his book Culture and Anarchy (1869).
What does "Philistine" mean?
Definition of Philistine. (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia. 2 often not capitalized. a : a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. b : one uninformed in a special area of knowledge.
Who invented the anti-intellectual sense of philistine?
The “anti-intellectual” sense of philistine was popularized by the writer Matthew Arnold, who famously applied it to members of the English middle class in his book Culture and Anarchy (1869).
What was the power of the Philistines in the Bible?
( 1 Samuel 17:1 ) ... The power of the Philistines was, however, still intact on their own territory. The border warfare was continued.
What is the name of the land of the Philistines?
From Philistia the name of the land of the Philistines came to be extended to the whole of "Palestine.". Many scholars identify the Philistines with the Pelethites of 2 Samuel 8:18 . These dictionary topics are from. M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897.
What does "dagon" mean in Greek?
In Semitic speech Dagon meant "grain," and was so understood in the time of Philo of Gebal, a Greek-Phoenician writer who attributes the art of grain-growing to this deity. But the original name was Da-gan, and in Akkadian da is "the upper part of a man," and gan (Turkish qaan) probably means "a large fish.".
What is the branch of the Casluhim?
They are said to be a branch of the Casluhim--an unknown people--or, according to Septuagint, of the Casmanim, which would mean "shavers of the head"--a custom of the Phoenicians (forbidden to Hebrews as a rule), as known from a picture of the time of Thothmes III in the 16th century BC.
What is the Philistines?
Philistines. ( Genesis 10:14 , RSV; but in A.V., "Philistim"), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the Jordan, and Crete and other Mediterranean islands. Some suppose them to have been a branch of the Rephaim ( 2 Samuel 21:16-22 ).
Who reached Gerar in the Bible?
The Philistines had reached Gerar by the time of Abraham, and it was only in the age of the Hyksos rulers of the Delta that Canaanite tribes could be described as akin, not only to Babylonians, but also to certain tribes in Egypt, a circumstance which favors the antiquity of the ethnic chapter, Genesis 10.
Who speaks of Philistine superstitions?
Isaiah (2:6) speaks of Philistine superstitions, Ezekiel (25:15,16) connects them with the Cherethim on the seacoast. They still held Gath in the time of Amos (6:2), and Gaza, Ashdod and Ekron in that of Zephaniah (2:5), who again mentions the Cherethim with Philistines, as inhabitants of Canaan or the "lowlands.".