noumenon

noumenon
/nooh"meuh non'/, n., pl. noumena /-neuh/.
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.
[1790-1800; < Gk nooúmenon a thing being perceived, n. use of neut. of prp. passive of noeîn to perceive; akin to NOUS]

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plural  Noumena, 

      in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (Kant, Immanuel), the thing-in-itself (das Ding an sich) as opposed to what Kant called the phenomenon—the thing as it appears to an observer. Though the noumenal holds the contents of the intelligible world, Kant claimed that man's speculative reason can only know phenomena and can never penetrate to the noumenon. Man, however, is not altogether excluded from the noumenal because practical reason—i.e., the capacity for acting as a moral agent—makes no sense unless a noumenal world is postulated in which freedom, God, and immortality abide.

      The relationship of noumenon to phenomenon in Kant's philosophy has engaged philosophers for nearly two centuries, and some have judged his passages on these topics to be irreconcilable. Kant's immediate successors in German Idealism in fact rejected the noumenal as having no existence for man's intelligence. Kant, however, felt that he had precluded this rejection by his refutation of Idealism, and he persisted in defending the absolute reality of the noumenal, arguing that the phenomenal world is an expression of power and that the source from which this power comes can only be the noumenal world beyond.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • noumenon — (n.) 1796, object of intellectual intuition (opposed to a phenomenon), term introduced by Kant, from Gk. noumenon that which is perceived, neuter passive prp. of noein to apprehend, perceive by the mind (from noos mind ). With passive suffix… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Noumenon — Nou me*non (nou m[ e]*n[o^]n), n. [NL. fr. Gr. ? the thing perceived, p. pr. pass. of ? to perceive, ? the mind.] (Metaph.) The of itself unknown and unknowable rational object, or thing in itself, which is distinguished from the {phenomenon}… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Noumĕnon — (gr.), das rein mit dem Verstande Aufgefaßte, im Gegensatz von Phänomenon, dem sinnlich Wahrnehmbaren …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • noumenon — noumènōn m <G noumenóna> DEFINICIJA fil. ono što je promišljeno, što se može spoznati samo duhom ili čistom mišlju (npr. kod Platona ideje, svijet ideja) ETIMOLOGIJA grč. nooúmenon …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • noumenon — [no͞o′mə nän΄, nou′mə nän] n. pl. noumena [no͞o′mənə, nou′mənə] [Ger < Gr nooumenon, neut. of noumenos, prp. pass. of noein, to perceive < nous, noos, the mind] in Kantian philosophy, a thing as it is in itself, unable to be known through… …   English World dictionary

  • Noumenon — Not to be confused with Numina. Noumena redirects here. For the band, see Noumena (band). The noumenon  /ˈnuː …   Wikipedia

  • Noumenon — Das Noumenon (Plural: Noumena) ist ein Begriff der Philosophie, insbesondere in der Philosophie Immanuel Kants. Etymologisch stammt der Ausdruck aus dem griechischen νοούμενον noúmenon „das Gedachte“. Die Etymologie des Wortes reflektiert… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • noumenon — noun In the philosophy of (1724 1804) and those whom he influenced, a thing as it is independent of any conceptualization or perception by the human mind; a thing in itself, postulated by practical reason but existing in a condition which is in… …   Wiktionary

  • noumenon — noun (plural noumena) Etymology: German, from Greek nooumenon that which is apprehended by thought, from neuter of present passive participle of noein to think, conceive, from nous mind Date: 1796 a posited object or event as it appears in itself …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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