vitalism

vitalism
vitalist, n., adj.vitalistic, adj.vitalistically, adv.
/vuyt"l iz'euhm/
1. the doctrine that phenomena are only partly controlled by mechanical forces, and are in some measure self-determining. Cf. dynamism (def. 1), mechanism (def. 8).
2. Biol. a doctrine that ascribes the functions of a living organism to a vital principle distinct from chemical and physical forces.
[1815-25; VITAL + -ISM]

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      school of scientific thought—the germ of which dates from Aristotle—that attempts (in opposition to mechanism and organicism) to explain the nature of life as resulting from a vital force peculiar to living organisms and different from all other forces found outside living things. This force is held to control form and development and to direct the activities of the organism. Vitalism has lost prestige as the chemical and physical nature of more and more vital phenomena have been shown.

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Universalium. 2010.

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