vitalist
Soul over mechanism
A vitalist believes that living organisms possess some vital force or principle beyond mere physical and chemical processes—that life cannot be fully explained by mechanism alone.
The term appears in philosophy of biology and history of science, where vitalism was a serious position before molecular biology displaced it.
Now often used dismissively: He's basically a vitalist who thinks consciousness can't be reduced to neurons.
Unified living systems theory
- teleologyStudy of purpose in nature
- holismWholes trump components
- animismSpirits inhabit all things
- emergenceComing into existence
Aristotle · metaphysics · dualism · phenomenology · Spinoza · monism
Living biological entity
- metabolismCellular nutrient conversion
- homeostasisBiological internal stability maintenance
- growthIncrease in size
- reproductionCopying or procreation
self-organization · regeneration · adaptation · biogenesis · morphogenesis · irritability · healing · animation
Means by which something operates
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- CartesianOf x-y coordinate geometry
- determinismDoctrine of causal necessity
physicalism · atomism · clockwork · Newtonian · mechanistic
organicism
Unified living systems theory
emergence · Aristotle · metaphysics · dualism · phenomenology · Spinoza · monism
organism
Living biological entity
- metabolismCellular nutrient conversion
- homeostasisBiological internal stability maintenance
- growthIncrease in size
reproduction · self-organization · regeneration · adaptation · biogenesis · morphogenesis · irritability · healing · animation
mechanism
Means by which something operates
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- CartesianOf x-y coordinate geometry
determinism · physicalism · atomism · clockwork · Newtonian · mechanistic
vitalistmechanist
Physical causation advocate
materialist · reductionist · physicist · determinist · naturalist
vitality, revitalize, vitalize, devitalize, revitalization, vitalizing, vitalized, vitalism, vitalizes