vitalism
the doctrine that phenomena are only partly controlled by mechanical forces, and are in some measure self-determining.
vitalist
-
a word derived from
vitalism.
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.
Anaximenes is the historical successor of Thales; he was unquestionably a vitalist.
From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Cocker
One might indeed be a vitalist in biology, out of pure caution and conscientiousness, without sharing those prejudices; and many a speculative philosopher has been free from them who has been a vitalist in metaphysics.
From Winds Of Doctrine Studies in Contemporary Opinion by George Santayana
Our Lord Don Quixote is the prototype of the vitalist whose faith is based upon uncertainty, and Sancho is the prototype of the rationalist who doubts his own reason.
From Tragic Sense Of Life by J. E. Crawford (John Ernest Crawford) Flitch
These truths are as plain to the mechanist as they are to the vitalist.
From Theism or Atheism The Great Alternative by Chapman Cohen
The attitude, however, seems to smack of vitalism, and Roux, as we have seen, is no vitalist.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
