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

Derived Forms

• phenomenalistically
  adverb
• phenomenalistic
  adjective
• phenomenalist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of phenomenalism

First recorded in 1860–65; phenomenal + -ism

Example Sentences

Mostly both views are combined, either as psychological voluntarism with interposed concessions to phenomenalism or as phenomenalism with the well-known concessions to voluntarism at the deciding points.

From Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. by Münsterberg, Hugo

It was about this time also that he began his study of Berkeley and Coleridge, and deserted his early phenomenalism for the conception of a spiritual will as the universal cause.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" by Various

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 Perry, Ralph Barton

For precisely as in the case of phenomenalism its dialectical principle threatens to be self-destructive.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Perry, Ralph Barton

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 Perry, Ralph Barton