Noumenon (Noun)
Meaning
The intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself, not as it is known through perception.
Classification
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents.
Examples
- The philosopher struggled to grasp the noumenon of reality, beyond the limitations of human perception.
- In Kant's philosophy, the thing-in-itself is a noumenon, a reality that exists independently of our experience of it.
- The artist's attempt to capture the essence of the landscape was an effort to represent the noumenon, rather than just its appearance.
- The scientist's theory was an attempt to describe the noumenon of the natural world, rather than just its observable phenomena.
- The concept of a noumenon is central to metaphysics, as it raises questions about the nature of reality and our ability to know it.