the philosophical doctrine that the phenomena of life cannot be explained in purely mechanical terms because there is something immaterial which distinguishes living from inanimate matter
Compare dynamism, mechanism
Derived forms
vitalist (ˈvitalist)
noun, adjective
vitalistic (ˌvitalˈistic)
adjective
vitalism in American English
(ˈvaɪtəlˌɪzəm)
noun
the doctrine that the life in living organisms is caused and sustained by a vital force that is distinct from all physical and chemical forces and that life is, in part, self-determining and self-evolving