noumenon en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈnumənɑn/ (General-American)
- /ˈnuːmənɒn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈnaʊmənɒn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From German Noumenon, from Ancient Greek νοούμενον (nooúmenon, “thing that is known”), passive present participle of νοέω (noéō, “I know”).
Meanings
-
(from Kantian philosophy on) A thing as it is independent of any conceptualization or perception by the human mind, postulated by practical reason but existing in a condition which is in principle unknowable and unexperienceable.
We have no specific concept of the noumenon, but think of it merely as whatever the object may be apart from the manner in which our knowledge exhibits it.
1954 July, Bella K. Milmed, “Theories of Religious Knowledge from Kant to Jaspers”, in Philosophy, volume 29, pages 197–198:The final result of Kant's philosophy, expressed in the concisest terms, was the proposition, so humiliating to human cognition, but, at the same time, so fertile in consequences, that we can know only phenomena, or the outward appearances of things, but not the noumenon, or the thing in itself.
1871 January, David Asher, “Schopenhauer and Darwinism”, in Journal of Anthropology, volume 1, number 3, page 317:That, we have seen, is what prevents the two truths from collapsing into an appearance/reality or phenomenon/noumenon distinction.
2003 January, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, “Nāgārjuna and the Limits of Thought”, in Philosophy East & West, volume 53, number 1, page 16:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| noumena | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
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Translations (25)
et noumenon (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · el νοούμενο (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · pl rzecz sama w sobie (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · it noumeno (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ru ноу́мен (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · pl noumenon (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · pt númeno (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · cs noumenon (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · fi noumeeni (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · uk ноу́мен (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · es noúmeno (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ro numen (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · de Noumenon (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ar نُومِينُون (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ja ヌーメノン (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ko 누메논 (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · fr noumène (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · sh noumènōn (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · gl nóumeno (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · sh ноумѐно̄н (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · pl noumen (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · ca noümen (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · et noumen (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · lt noumenas (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself) · tr numen (thing as it is independent of any conceptualization — see also thing-in-itself)