phenomenalism

American  

[fi-nom-uh-nl-iz-uhm] / fɪˈnɒm ə nlˌɪz əm /

noun

Philosophy.

1. the doctrine that phenomena are the only objects of knowledge or the only form of reality.

2. the view that all things, including human beings, consist simply of the aggregate of their observable, sensory qualities.

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phenomenalism British  

/ fɪˈnɒmɪnəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy the doctrine that statements about physical objects and the external world can be analysed in terms of possible or actual experiences, and that entities, such as physical objects, are only mental constructions out of phenomenal appearances Compare idealism realism

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Other Word Forms

• phenomenalist
  noun
• phenomenalistic
  adjective
• phenomenalistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of phenomenalism

First recorded in 1860–65; phenomenal + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phenomenalism

This principle when expressed as an epistemological or metaphysical generalization, is called phenomenalism.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Ralph Barton Perry

In so far as subjectivism reduces reality to states of knowledge, such as perceptions or ideas, it is phenomenalism.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Ralph Barton Perry

And from the time of Berkeley these two principles, phenomenalism and spiritualism, have remained as distinct and alternating phases of subjectivism.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Ralph Barton Perry

Similarly a phenomenalism, like that of Hume, takes immediate presence to sense as the norm of being and knowledge.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Ralph Barton Perry

On precisely the same psychological foundation, we have such divergent views of knowledge as idealism, phenomenalism, and agnosticism, with many other strange mixtures of logic, psychology, and metaphysics.

From International Congress of Arts and Science, Volume I Philosophy and Metaphysics by Various