possibilist, n. (and a.)
(pɒˈsɪbɪlɪst)
[ad. F. possibiliste or Sp. posibilista, f. L. possibilis: see possible and -ist.]
1. A member of a political party whose aims at reform are directed to what is immediately possible or practicable; spec. (a) of a party of Republicans in Spain; (b) of a party of Socialists in France. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1881 Daily News 18 Aug. 5/7 The Opportunist, now called the Possibilist doctrine, that everything cannot be done in a day. 1882 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 459 Communists..of the ‘Possibilist’ type. 1893 Times 8 Aug. 2/5 The Possibilists of Paris made the first notable effort to re-unite the labour parties of different countries. 1894 Cycl. Rev. Curr. Hist. (Buffalo, N.Y.) IV. 898 Señor Abarzuza has been virtual leader of the possibilists or moderate republicans ever since Señor Castelar announced his retirement. 1936 Sat. Rev. Lit. (U.S.) 15 Feb. 11/2 He [sc. Mazzini] was never what is called in modern phrase a ‘possibilist’. He was..that most inspiring and most dangerous product of mankind, an ‘idealist’. 1940, 1966 [see Guesdist]. 1973 Times 26 Nov. 15/2 The Labour Party would be irreparably split between its moderate possibilists and its left-wing extremists. |
2. Geogr. One who emphasizes man's freedom of action in cultural development and minimizes the effects and restrictions of the environment. Also attrib. or as adj.
| 1925 Mountford & Paxton tr. Febvre's Geogr. Introd. Hist. 20 We will not ask whether there are not really any cracks in the geographical edifice, and whether it is possible to follow at the same time..the ‘determinists’ after the manner of Ratzel, and what we may perhaps call the ‘possibilists’ after the pattern of Vidal. 1951 G. Tatham in T. G. Taylor Geogr. in 20th Cent. vi. 155 Possibilists do not, nor have they ever claimed, that man can free himself from all environmental influences. Ibid., Possibilist statements published during the last fifty years, make quite clear the contention that Nature does not drive man along one particular road. 1964 Welsh Hist. Rev. II. 275 He begins by disavowing any intention of arguing for geographical determinism and affirms his allegiance to the ‘possibilist’ school of geographers. rather |