noumenon
9.9
A thing as it really is, independent of how people see or feel it
- noun
- /ˈnuːməˌnɒn/
- Formal
:
noumeno
- In Kant's philosophy, a noumenon is a thing that exists independently of our perception.
Examples
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Philosophers often debate the nature of a noumenon, arguing whether it can ever be truly known.
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While critical of Spinoza, and radically distinguishing phenomenon from noumenon, Kant merely created another form of immanence.
Academic text (1993) -
The concept of a noumenon helps to differentiate between what is perceived and what exists in reality.
Synonyms
1
9.9
What something really is apart from how people see it
is the same meaning but uses a single specialized term
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Noumenon comes from a Greek root noein meaning 'to think' and is related to simple English words like 'know' and 'notion'. Philosophers use noumenon to mean the thing 'in itself' — what it really is, not just how it appears to our senses, so it is something we can think about but cannot directly see.