thing-in-itself

Noun

Meaning

thing in itself

Alternative form of thing-in-itself

thing-in-itself (plural things-in-themselves)

(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.
Synonym: noumenon
Antonym: phenomenon

Alternative names

thing in itself

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hypernyms

Examples

For this purpose, he at once did away with the essential and most meritorious part of the Kantian doctrine, the distinction between a priori and a posteriori and thus that between the phenomenon and the thing-in-itself. Source: Internet

Occultism, on the other hand, is concerned with the nature of the " thing-in-itself ". Source: Internet

Other commentators suggest that Schopenhauer considered will to be only a subset of the "thing-in-itself" class, namely that which we can most directly experience. Source: Internet

Schopenhauer saw the human will as our one window to the world behind the representation; the Kantian thing-in-itself. Source: Internet

The antithesis thing-in-itself and appearance is untenable; with that, however, the concept appearance also disappears." Source: Internet

The 'two-world' interpretation regards Kant's position as a statement of epistemological limitation, that we are not able to transcend the bounds of our own mind, meaning that we cannot access the " thing-in-itself ". Source: Internet

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