thing-in-itself (noumenon)

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The thing-in-itself (noumenon) is Kant’s term for reality as it exists independently of human perception and experience, in contrast to the world of appearances (phenomena).


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf epistemological concept
metaphysical concept
philosophical concept
associatedWithDoctrine distinction between noumena and phenomena
epistemic limits of human reason
belongsToPhilosophicalTradition German idealism
transcendental idealism
canBeThoughtBy pure reason
cannotBeKnownBy sensibility
theoretical cognition
understanding
coinedBy Immanuel Kant
contrastedWith appearance
phenomenon
criticizedBy Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Nietzsche
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
definedAs object as it is in itself, not as it appears to us
reality as it exists independently of human perception
describedInWork Critique of Pure Reason
distinguishedFrom empirical object
object of possible experience
epistemicStatusInKant unknowable by theoretical reason
firstMajorPublicationDateContext 1781 (first edition of Critique of Pure Reason)
hasAlternativeName Ding an sich
noumenon
hasDebatedStatus whether it is knowable in any sense
whether it is self-contradictory in Kant’s system
influencedPhilosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
inKantianEthics connected to idea of rational beings as ends in themselves
inKantianMetaphysics marks distinction between appearances and things as they are in themselves
interpretedAs limiting concept marking the boundary of experience
metaphysical substrate of appearances
languageOfOrigin German
originalTerm Ding an sich
relatedConcept categories of understanding
forms of intuition
noumenal world
phenomenal world
space and time
transcendental idealism
revisedDiscussionIn 1787 (second edition of Critique of Pure Reason)
roleInKantianSystem grounds appearances without itself being an appearance
limit concept for human cognition

Referenced by (3)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Arthur Schopenhauer ("will (as thing-in-itself)")
Immanuel Kant ("thing-in-itself")
hasPhilosophicalConcept
Immanuel Kant
notableIdea

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