thing in itself
Reality beyond perception
A thing in itself is what something truly is, independent of how we perceive or experience it—reality stripped of the observer's perspective.
The concept comes from Kant's philosophy, where he argued we can never know things in themselves, only things as they appear to us through our senses and mental categories.
The phrase appears in philosophical discussions about the limits of human knowledge: We perceive the apple's redness, but can never access the apple as a thing in itself.
Observable facts or events
- a prioriIndependent of experience
- synthetic a prioriNecessary truths that expand knowledge
- categoriesGroups of related things
- sensibilityRefined emotional responsiveness
understanding · appearances · representation · intuition · cognition · transcendental · pure reason · phenomenal
Fundamental nature of something
- existenceState of being real
- substancePhysical material with mass
- realityWhat actually exists
- beingExisting as something
ultimate reality · unknowable · inaccessible · beyond experience · unmediated · absolute · true nature · ontological
phenomena
Observable facts or events
- a prioriIndependent of experience
- synthetic a prioriNecessary truths that expand knowledge
- categoriesGroups of related things
sensibility · understanding · appearances · representation · intuition · cognition · transcendental · pure reason · phenomenal · epistemology
essence
Fundamental nature of something
being · ultimate reality · unknowable · inaccessible · beyond experience · unmediated · absolute · true nature · ontological · immutable
thing in itselfappearance
Outward visible form
phenomenon · phenomena · representation · mere appearance · sense-data
thing in itselfrepresentation
Depiction or likeness
image · concept · interpretation · construction · simulacrum
thing, things, in, itself, self, selves, selfhood, selfish, selfishly