noumenon
Americannoun
plural
noumena-
the object, itself inaccessible to experience, to which a phenomenon is referred for the basis or cause of its sense content.
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a thing in itself, as distinguished from a phenomenon or thing as it appears.
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Kantianism. something that can be the object only of a purely intellectual, nonsensuous intuition.
noun
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(in the philosophy of Kant) a thing as it is in itself, not perceived or interpreted, incapable of being known, but only inferred from the nature of experience Compare phenomenon See also thing-in-itself
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the object of a purely intellectual intuition
Other Word Forms
- noumenal adjective
- noumenalism noun
- noumenalist noun
- noumenality noun
- noumenally adverb
Etymology
Origin of noumenon
1790–1800; < Greek nooúmenon a thing being perceived, noun use of neuter of present participle passive of noeîn to perceive; akin to nous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Glassley tries also to grasp something beyond: the noumenon, an ineffable inner reality in things that cannot be discerned by the senses.
From Nature • Feb. 5, 2018
I do not pretend to demonstrate anything, nor do I feel much concern, about any unknowable noumenon which never reveals itself in my consciousness.
From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter
Coexistence and sequence, therefore, may be affirmed or denied not only between phenomena, but between noumena, or between a noumenon and phenomena.
From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2) by Mill, John Stuart
In theology the fundamental problems of ontological philosophy were faced; the relationship of unity to multiplicity, of noumenon to phenomena, of God to man.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various
Faith cure is dependence upon the human mind itself, upon the noumenon, instead of the phenomenon.
From Carmen Ariza by Stocking, Charles Francis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
