noumenon

[ noo-muh-non ]

noun

, plural nou·me·na [noo, -m, uh, -n, uh].

1. the object, itself inaccessible to experience, to which a phenomenon is referred for the basis or cause of its sense content.
2. a thing in itself, as distinguished from a phenomenon or thing as it appears.
3. Kantianism. something that can be the object only of a purely intellectual, nonsensuous intuition.

noumenon

/ ˈnuːmɪnən; ˈnaʊ- /

noun

1. (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
2. the object of a purely intellectual intuition

Derived Forms

• ˈnoumenalist, nounadjective
• ˌnoumeˈnality, noun
• ˈnoumenally, adverb
• ˈnoumenalism, noun
• ˈnoumenal, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of noumenon¹

1790–1800; < Greek nooúmenon a thing being perceived, noun use of neuter of present participle passive of noeîn to perceive; akin to nous

Word History and Origins

Origin of noumenon¹

C18: via German from Greek: thing being thought of, from noein to think, perceive; related to nous mind

Example Sentences

Those kinds of questions, and that kind of connection to the noumena of travel, would never arise from a downloaded file on a digital device.

From Washington Post

Kant’s term “noumenon” refers to a “thing in itself”—Ding an sich—an objective reality that will always be inaccessible to human perception.

From Scientific American

Glassley tries also to grasp something beyond: the noumenon, an ineffable inner reality in things that cannot be discerned by the senses.

From Nature

The deeper our knowledge of things goes, the more we see the perfect conformity of the apparent to the real, the more faithfully do phenomena translate noumena.

From Project Gutenberg

They wrote against substance assumed as the “noumenon lying underneath all phenomena—the substratum supporting all qualities—the something in which all accidents inhere.”

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• conscience
• courage
• ego
• feeling
• genius
• heart
• intellect
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• life
• mind
• personality
• spirit
• stuff
• thought
• vitality