the doctrine that statements about physical objects and the external world can be analysed in terms of possible or actual experiences, and that entities, such as physical objects, are only mental constructions out of phenomenal appearances
Compare idealism (sense 3), realism (sense 6)
Derived forms
phenomenalist (pheˈnomenalist) or phenomenist (pheˈnomenist)
noun, adjective
phenomenalism in American English
(fəˈnɑmənəlˌɪzəm)
noun
the philosophic theory that knowledge is limited to phenomena, either because there is no reality beyond phenomena or because such reality is unknowable