Life Principle (Noun)
Meaning
A hypothetical force to which the functions and qualities peculiar to living things are sometimes ascribed.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Examples
- The concept of a life principle is often debated among scientists and philosophers who argue over its existence and relevance to modern biology.
- Vitalism, a disproven theory, states that living organisms possess a life principle that sets them apart from non-living matter.
- Some ancient cultures believed in a life principle that flowed through all living beings, animating them and connecting them to the spiritual realm.
- Despite significant advances in science, the notion of a life principle persists in popular culture, often in the form of pseudoscientific theories.
- In Hegelian philosophy, the life principle is seen as a manifestation of absolute idealism, where life emerges as a dialectical process of self-relation and self-expression.